


My rival is also my girlfriend

by Abeehiltz



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Don't copy to another site, F/F, Falling In Love, Gay Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Jealousy, Lesbian Character, Magic, Sappy, Useless Lesbians, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-01-13 04:03:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18461093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abeehiltz/pseuds/Abeehiltz
Summary: Diana Cavendish is Atsuko Kagari's rival, but why does she can't stop thinking about her? And Diana is always thinking about Akko, and her heart can't stop beating when she's around her. Will they stay rival and friend, or will their relationship change?The fanfic takes place at the end of the anime, with new events, and new relationships!





	1. An unexpected duo

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!! I'm so happy to be able to finally write something I always wanted to. I hope the story will be good enough and you will love it! It takes place at the end of the anime when Akko is finally able to fly!! It wasn't hard to think about what I wanted to write, but a little more when I had to write it, but I think it turned good~ English isn't my native language but I think I did great as well, so enjoy this fanfic! And do not hesitate to leave notes and give critics~

Diana was sitting at her desk doing her homework and studying for the future exams. However, she couldn’t stop thinking about someone and didn’t progress in her homework at all. The person occupying her mind was none other than Atsuko Kagari. The blond-haired was overjoyed than the girl was finally able to fly on her broom. Her smile when she wasn’t touching the ground anymore was stunning, and Diana couldn’t think about anything else than this pure shown of happiness coming from Akko. Each time she tried not to think about it by shaking her head, her thoughts came back to the smiling girl and she couldn’t work at all.  
  
“Why am I thinking about her?!”  
  
Diana was a bit annoyed inside, but she didn’t notice she was also showing those feelings outside. She didn’t want to think that much about Akko, but the brown-haired girl seemed to fill her mind to the point that she couldn’t focus on anything. The blond girl shook her head again and sighed deeply before she closed her book. It was useless to try working in this state. She stood up and walked toward her bed before falling on it with another sigh escaping her mouth.  
  
“This girl…”  
  
“Who are you talking about?”  
  
Diana jumped a little from surprise after hearing the voice of someone she knew. Hannah showed herself with Barbara behind her, a worried look on their face while looking at the blond girl on the bed.  
  
“Are you okay Diana? We heard you sighing and complaining…”  
  
Diana smiled at her worried friends to comfort them. She was glad they were worried about her, they were precious to her now. But she didn’t want them to worry about her after all, especially for something unimportant like this.  
  
“It’s okay, I’m just… a bit tired from work I think…”  
  
The two girls smiled at their friend, but were still a little worried about her. When they first arrived in this school, they were only respecting Diana Cavendish, but now the blond girl was precious to them, and they didn’t want to leave her alone anymore. Barbara suddenly had an idea to help Diana relaxing after this work and she smiled a little warmer.  
  
“Maybe you should go for a little walk? It will change your mind before sleeping… I think”  
  
Diana opened her eyes slightly wider from the idea, she wasn’t expecting this kind of offer after all, but she smiled again at Barbara, happy that the girl was concerned about her. And it wasn’t a bad idea at all. Maybe it would help her thinking about something else other than Atsuko. She stood up slowly and walked toward her closet to pick her uniform again, it would be bad to walk outside with her nightdress after all.  
  
“Thank you Barbara, I’ll take your offer then. But you two should go to bed now, don’t worry about me and don’t wait for me, understand?”  
  
She told her friends this and waited for an answer with a smile on her face. The two girls nodded and walked out of the room. “Have fun Diana!” Hannah said before she walked toward her bed with Barbara.  
  
The blond girl dressed herself with her uniform, and took her wand before she quietly left the room, not wanting to disrupt her friends’ sleep. Yet, Hannah and Barbara  weren’t sleeping, and waited for Diana to leave before they chatted a bit together.  
  
“She has changed since last year…” Hannah started, smiling as she thought about how Diana was before.  
  
“Yes it’s true… She wasn’t able to smile like this before… She was cold and almost haughty at first…” Barbara answered while chuckling before she stared at Hannah in the bed next to her. “But I think we also changed, don’t you think so?”  
  
Hannah tilted her head a little as she pondered over what her friend said, before she smiled back at the girl. “I suppose yes, you’re right Barb.” Yes they changed. And she was pretty sure everything was because of, or rather thanks to Atsuko Kagari. Hannah wasn’t fond of this girl, but she was still grateful to her for bringing back Diana, and she was also pretty sure she was also the one that changed Diana. Hannah enjoyed her life more around Akko, and around everyone in the group.  
  
She then yawned a little and closed her eyes a bit before she snuggled into the blanket. “But for now, let’s sleep…”  
  
“Yes… Good night Hannah.” Barbara said before she mimicked her friend and wrapped herself into her blanket.  
  
“Good night”

 

* * *

 

Akko was lying in her bed, wriggling as she couldn’t fall asleep. She finally did it! She was finally able to fly! She couldn’t trust this, it felt a bit unreal for her, but she was so happy about this that she couldn’t sleep. So since she was sleepless, she got up from her bed and put her school uniform on. She wanted to train a little more after all. She took her broom from the corner of the room and slowly walked outside the room. She did her best not to wake up her roommates as she left the room, even though she was really excited.  
  
When she was finally outside, she started to run, a broad smile on her face as she was still so excited. And she stopped when she was in a large area where she could fly around without hurting herself or anyone. She took a large breath and quickly straddled her broom before she closed her eyes. She tried to remember the feeling she felt some hours ago, but suddenly, she remembered Diana’s smile when she was flying. It was a radiating smile, and at this time, Akko thought that the woman was really beautiful. Her cheeks warmed up a little from the thoughts, and so she shook her head to clear her mind of anything. She didn’t know why she suddenly thought about Diana, but for now, she wanted to fly!  
  
“Let’s go!! Tia Freyre!”  
  
Slowly, her body and her broom started to go up, and she smiled widely at the feeling. Usually, she could only feel like this when she was on another’s broom, so it was her second time feeling like this alone.  
  
“Yeeah!!”  
  
Yet, she was lost in her thoughts so much that she suddenly crashed into a building, not paying attention to where she was going. Fortunately, she wasn’t fast as she still couldn’t move a lot, but it still hurt and she fell on the ground with her broom.  
  
“Ouch… It hurts…”  
  
“Akko?”  
  
The girl jumped from surprise when her name was called, but when she turned around, she noticed Diana standing, a worried look on her face that made Akko a little happy. Diana was worried about her after all, how could she not be happy about that? When she first arrived at this school, she couldn’t even dream about seeing this girl worried or smiling, especially to her. Yet, here she was, the one and only Diana Cavendish was worried about someone like her, and it made her happy.  
  
“…Akko…?”  
  
The second time her name was called, she came back to her mind and shook her head a little.  
  
“S-Sorry Diana! I’m good don’t worry!”  
  
Akko slowly stood up and brushed her uniform a little to remove anything that was on it after hitting the wall and falling. She then stared back at Diana with the same grin she was wearing since the beginning.  
  
After seeing that wonderful smile, Diana blushed a little and looked away while she crossed her arms. What was wrong with her again? She went here to clear her mind but seeing Akko only messed even more with her mind.  
  
“I… didn’t say anything about being worried…”  
  
“Oh? But you looked worried so…” Akko tilted her head a little as she was a little troubled. Diana really looked worried after all. But she didn’t mind if the blond girl wasn’t honest with her feeling and kept smiling.  
  
“Anyway, why are you here Akko, it’s late. You shouldn’t be…” Diana stopped talking as she finally noticed the broom behind the woman, and sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. This girl would give her a heart attack someday if she kept worrying her. “You’re training this late without anyone to watch over you… Honestly Akko… What would you do if something happens to you?”  
  
Akko pouted at what Diana said and looked away as she crossed her arms. “Hmpf, I do whatever I want, you’re not my mother as I know!”  
  
Diana frowned and sighed again. This girl was annoying… a little at least… She walked toward Akko’s face to stare into her crimson’s eyes and talked again, her eyes were filled with worry about the smaller girl.  
  
“Akko… I’m not asking you to stop, but at least don’t be alone, you can at least ask me to help you” Diana said with a soft voice.  
  
Akko blushed a little as she stared back into the blue eyes. She was stunned by Diana’s words and couldn’t move, only staring back at the woman while her heart started to beat faster. She slowly nodded after some time, not even able to fight back as she usually does. When Diana was talking to her with her sweet voice, she couldn’t fight back. It was weird, usually she was more stubborn than her after all, so why wasn’t she able to keep her mind clear and do whatever she wants around this girl?  
  
When she snapped out of her thoughts after some time, she quickly nodded and moved away so as to keep her mind safe.  
  
“Y-Yes… Okay… I- I will!”  
  
She then took her broom again from the ground and finally let out a small yawn, covering her mouth with her free hand at the same time while stretching the arm with the hand holding the broom above her head.  
  
Diana chuckled at the view. Akko was so cute after all. Wait, did she just thought something weird? She internally slapped her mind and just smiled a little at the girl.  
  
“Someone seems tired now. You should go back to your room, I’ll do the same. Besides, it’s almost past curfew.”  
  
Akko blushed a little but giggled as she rubbed the back of her neck from embarrassment.  
  
“Yes I will… Let’s eat breakfast together tomorrow then!”  
  
“Yes, yes, like always Akko.” Diana replied, smiling a little more in front of the silly girl, and then she started to walk toward her room, leaving the other girl alone.  
  
“Don’t be late”  
  
“Who do you think I am?!” Akko burst a bit at the teasing, but she then giggled a little before she also walked toward her room.  
  
“Good night Diana!” She shouted. And Diana replied with a smile and a wave toward Atsuko before they both entered the building through different doors.  
  
After walking through the hall of the school building, Akko finally made her way back to her room. She quickly changed in her pyjamas and fell on her bed, yawning hard. She didn’t know when she stared to be tired like this, but at least she was very happy she was able to talk to Diana before sleeping.  
  
Thinking about Diana, she slowly fell asleep on her bed, a bright smile on her face.

 

The next morning, Akko slowly woke up with the light coming through the windows. She was still dizzy though and only grumbled in her pillow, not wanting to wake up yet. But when she looked around with her eyes half-closed, she noticed Lotte and Sucy weren’t here anymore, and she suddenly jumped out of her bed and quickly started to get dressed. If they weren’t here, it would only mean that she was late and they couldn’t wake her up.  
  
“Shit!”  
  
She did her best to get dressed as fast as possible, not noticing she was wearing her uniform clumsily. After all, Diana and her told each other that they would eat breakfast together and she didn’t want to miss this. She packed her stuff in her back and burst out of the room, running fast toward the cafeteria.  
  
“She’s gonna be angry! For sure she’s gonna be angry!”  
  
Akko ran down the hallway even though it wasn’t allowed, but she didn’t care for now, she really wanted to go to the cafeteria, and if possible, without an angry Diana waiting for her. She finally arrived at her destination after some minutes running, and she walked inside panting heavily. She watched around her , but she knew where all the group would be, so she didn’t have to search a lot. Seeing Diana at the table relieved her a little. She was at least happy the woman didn’t leave her. Lotte and Barbara seemed to talk about the Night Fall thing, Amanda chatted with her friends Jasminka, Constanze and even Hannah. Sucy was, as always, doing weird stuff with potions and mushroom, and Diana was eating her breakfast while listening to the girls chatting.  
  
“She’s here…”  
  
The girl slowly walked toward the table, and when she was near it, everyone finally noticed her. She grinned at them, especially at Diana before she stared deadly at Sucy and Lotte.  
  
“Why didn’t you wake me up-”  
  
“Pfft”  
  
Everyone started to muffle their laugh as they all looked at her. Except Amanda, who was dying laughing at her. Akko’s face turned between dismay and emotionless. She didn’t know why everyone was laughing at her, even Diana was chuckling, she could see it even though the blond girl tried to hide it. She then puffed her cheek and sulked.  
  
“Come on guys why are you laughing?! Even you Diana!”  
  
She pointed at Diana but she was still pouting, her cheeks a little inflated by the act. But Diana didn’t stop chuckling. However, she was smiling at the same time, so Akko wasn’t angry anymore and just smiled again.  
  
“Akko you- your hair- haha!!” Amanda was still laughing hard and everyone in the cafeteria started to look at them and some of these people also began to snort, making Akko really embarrassed. Hopefully, Lotte was here for her and told her about the thing wrong.  
  
“Your hair and your uniform, you should fix them Akko.”  
  
Akko raised an eyebrow and looked at herself in a mirror close to the table. It finally hit her mind and she gasped, mouth opened wide at her reflection. Her hair was horrible and she totally forgot to tie it up with her usual ponytail, and her uniform was creased and not even put correctly. She blushed even more from embarrassment when she saw this, and tried to fix herself in front of the mirror. The girls around her stopped laughing at her as she was struggling with her appearance. Until Diana came at her and helped her with her uniform while she was tying her hair. Akko stared at the blue eyes and smiled at the girl, still blushing a little.  
  
“Th-Thank you Diana… But I didn’t forget you also laughed!”  
  
“Sorry Akko, but it was quite a funny sight you know?”  
  
“No it wasn’t! Stop teasing me Diana…”  
  
“Well, you were late even after saying this yesterday you know?”  
  
“I…” Akko looked around except at Diana as she didn’t know what to say as an excuse.  
  
Diana only replied with a smile, and she tapped the girl’s shoulder when she was done fixing the outfit. She was so happy she was able to see Akko in this state, it was really funny and it had been a long time since she last laughed like this.  
  
“Now it’s good.”  
  
“Thanks I guess…” Akko was still sulking a little, but seeing Diana’s smile quickly changed her face and she smiled back at the girl, before she heard someone clearing her throat.  
  
“Hey lovebirds, are you done making out?” Amanda shouted while smirking wide, teasing both of the girls again like usual. And it was effective, the two girls blushed a lot, especially Diana. And everyone in the room stared again at the two girls in front of the mirror. Diana turned around and stared coldly at the girl.  
  
“O’Neill. Shouldn’t you worry about your breakfast instead?” She said while raising an eyebrow and walking back at the table. Akko walked toward the tray line, or more skipping toward it, so as to get her breakfast, and Amanda stared at her breakfast and resumed eating, brushing off Diana’s comment. But as soon as she took another bite, she coughed and forced herself to swallow the food. It tasted really bad and she stood up angrily toward Diana.  
  
“What did you do?!”  
  
“Nothing, but maybe the girl sitting next to you can tell you more?”  
  
Amanda turned her head toward the girl Diana was referring to, until she noticed Sucy smirking, her shoulders moving up and down showing that she was laughing. The girl sighed heavily and sat back. She knew she couldn’t say anything to Sucy since the girl wouldn’t even care about what she would say, so she said nothing and rested her head on her hand, still angry, while everyone resumed what they were doing before Akko came.  
  
The girl came back quickly after she took her food, and sat in front of Diana, smiling at her warmly and then she started to eat her breakfast as fast as she could. She knew she didn’t have a lot of time left after all and she didn’t want to be late for classes. Yet, she felt a little weird and, after some times, she noticed Diana was staring at her again. She stared back at the woman while grinning and stopped eating for some seconds. But when she noticed that the blond girl was still staring at her, she cleared her throat a little.  
  
“Diana?”  
  
Suddenly, Diana was snapped out of it and she opened her eyes wider, blushing a little when she noticed Akko was staring back at her. She tried to stay calm, but her face wasn’t as emotionless than she used to be and Akko giggled a little.  
  
“Are you okay?” Akko asked, drinking her glass of water before she was done with her breakfast.  
  
“Y-Yes I am.” Diana slowly stood up, making everyone stop their chatting and she stared at the group. She tried not to look embarrassed and took her bag.  
  
“Classes are going to start, we should leave now.”  
  
And so, Diana stared to walk, but she was walking faster than usual and almost everyone noticed it.  
  
“What’s wrong with her?” Lotte asked, seeming a little worried about her friend, but Amanda stopped her worries with her usual teasing. “I’m sure Akko said something too sweet for her to handle~” and she stared at Akko while chuckling.  
  
Of course, the girl blushed again and nudged her friend before she also left the table quickly, not even looking behind her. She was still pouting and honestly, Amanda was always teasing her with that and it was too embarrassing to handle the teasing, especially when Diana wasn’t here to stop the girl.

 

* * *

 

During lessons, Diana was, like usual, concentrated on them and listened to the teachers carefully, but sometimes she caught glances of Akko. At first, the brown-haired girl tried to listen to the teachers, but after one lesson, she was already sleeping on her desk, and Diana chuckled quietly at the sight before she concentrated fully on what the teachers were saying. Meanwhile, Sucy was still brewing some weird potions, not listening to the classes except the one from Miss Lukić, which she seemed to enjoy a lot. Amanda’s team was still doing things on their own as well, and didn’t care about the lessons either.  
  
The classes went fast for Diana, and she supposed for Akko as well, since she slept all the time. Maybe she lacked sleep after being outside late the day before. Diana felt a little concerned about this and walked toward Akko, the others also coming around the sleeping girl. She seemed to be the base of this group, and Diana was still grateful the brown-haired girl gave her the chance to be a part of this group. Every day was much more fun than she used to spend before meeting her. She was about to shake the girl’s shoulder to wake her up, when she heard Miss Finnelan speaking rather loudly, like always.  
  
“Kagari Atsuko!”  
  
The effect was instant, Akko quickly stood up from her chair, really tensed and her face pale since each time Finnelan called her, it meant she did something wrong. She couldn’t remember what she did wrong though and she tried to look around sweating a little.  
  
“Y-Yes…?”  
  
Miss Finnelan seemed relieved when she saw Akko, which made the girl shocked about the view. It was the first time the woman seemed relieved to see her. What happened? Akko was curious, but the teacher talked again.  
  
“Miss Kagari, Diana, follow me. I need you for something, it will be short don’t worry.”  
  
The teacher must be explaining herself for Diana, usually she would have stopped after the ‘follow me’ when she only talked to Akko. Yet, both the girls were still surprised about why they were both asked to come. And Amanda chuckled a little while smirking at her friends.  
  
“Did you get caught kis-” She started to say, but Diana stopped her from talking by glaring coldly at her, and Jasminka also held the girl’s shoulder, making her stop her teasing quickly. She sighed and started to walk away from the classroom. “Well, see you later then I suppose.” She then stared at the girls quickly over her shoulder. “And good luck!” Those were her last words before she finally left the classroom with everyone else. Lotte smiled a little at her friends before walking out, but her worried feelings could be seen on her face.  
  
Akko meanwhile was still sweating and still thought she did something wrong, and was wondering why Diana was called as well. But she calmed a little when the blond girl put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “It will be alright Akko, you did nothing wrong this time, did you?”  
  
The girl shook her head and smiled a little at the witch. “N-No I didn’t… But wait, what do you mean by this time?!” She pouted a little while asking this question, crossing her arms and looking away, while Diana was giggling a little, but Finnelan stopped this by clearing her throat, and without another word, they both followed the teacher.  
  
  
“Why do you think they called both of us…?” Akko whispered to Diana so as to make her words be heard only by her while they were walking in the hallway behind the teacher.  
  
“I don’t know, I suppose we will know when we arrive”  
  
Akko sighed a little. “Yes I suppose…”  
  
A silence settled in during their walk as nobody talked, until they arrived into the headmistress’s office. Akko gulped again when she entered, and saw Miss Holbrooke on her chair, with Finnelan walking to stand next to her. Chariot was also in the room, bringing a smile again on the young girl’s face when the woman waved at her. Then, the headmistress started to talk.  
  
“Akko, Diana. We have a task for you.”  
  
“Y-Yes?” Akko asked while gulping again. Hopefully, Diana handled the situation better than her with her serious face.  
  
“What is it Miss Holbrooke?”  
  
“You know how Luna Nova festival is coming right?”  
  
“Yes of cour-” Diana started to talk, but she was cut short by Akko’s excitement, making her sigh a little, but she smiled a little, the woman’s enthusiasm was always relaxing her.  
  
“Yes!! I’m so looking forward to it!! It’s gonna be amazing! Aaaah~” The brown-haired girl was dreaming while talking, not even paying attention to the face of Finnelan that showed how annoyed she was at the girl.  
  
“Y-Yes that’s it Akko.” Said the principal. “And for the task, we want both of you to represent Luna Nova during this festival, and manage it.”  
  
“What?!” Akko shouted, so surprised that she couldn’t keep her voice down. “I- I understand for Diana, but why me?!” She was still surprised. Diana was of course suited for this kind of task, but Akko… She was sure she would have been the last person asked to do something like this.  
  
“Yes miss Holbrooke? Why did you choose Akko? Not that I think she’s not suited but it’s unusual coming from you.”  
  
Akko frowned a little when Diana asked this, but it was true that it was unusual, and she knew that the blond girl really thought her words. She then turned at Holbrooke again waiting for an answer.  
  
“Well, you are both well-known after the missile crisis, so we all thought that it would be the best to bring people to Luna Nova. And… Miss  Du Nord also asked for Akko to take part of it…  
  
Akko’s eyes almost sparkled while staring at Chariot, overjoyed her favourite teacher was thinking like this, and Diana was also smiling warmly at Chariot for this help. She also thought it was a great idea to put Akko in this place, it would help her with her magic as well. And… She also wanted to spend more time with Akko. Just thinking about it made her blush slightly.  
  
“Diana are you okay?” Holbrooke asked, making the girl jump a little from surprise.  
  
“Y-Yes!” She cleared her throat a little and coughed. “I… I think it’s a good idea as well. It will also help her with her magic after all, it can only do good.”  
  
Akko’s eyes sparkled while staring at Diana this time, and the girl felt a little embarrassed about it so she looked away a bit, trying not to blush again.  
  
“Good then, it’s settled. The event is next month, I hope you’ll make it a wonderful event Diana, Akko.”  
  
And that’s how the unexpected pair came to life for, at least, one month.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! In the next chapter, we will finally enter the first part of the story, and Akko and Diana don't agree about some parts, what will happen? I'll let you read it next time~ Feel free to leave notes, kudo or anything you want! And thank you for reading this!


	2. Traditions are still in the way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akko and Diana don't totally agree with how they want to make the festival, what will happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the number of kudos and hits! I never thought I would have that much and I'm so happy!!  
> I also want to tell you that I don't think I can upload the chapters regularly, but I will at least try to publish one per week <3
> 
> Enjoy this second chapter!

Akko and Diana were both in the library after lessons. Akko was reading one book about the former festival while Diana was trying to find more books in the bookshelves. They both agreed to come here the day after they had the new about their pairing. Akko was still surprised she had been chosen. Yet, she didn’t want to disappoint everyone and she decided to work hard for it.  
  
After not even half an hour though, Akko sighed deeply and closed the book. ‘Honestly it’s so boring…’ She didn’t want to make the festival like the previous ones, she wanted to do something big, to make everyone smile. So she decided to tell Diana her new idea! She didn’t think about it that much, but she was confident it would work! Maybe…  
  
Diana came back at the table in the corner of the library some minutes after Akko stopped reading. She found the brown-haired girl slouched on her chair, her head resting on the table, and she chuckled a little at the view, finding the girl as cute as ever. Before sitting on her chair, she put the books she found on the table.  
  
“So? Did you read the book? I found more about the festival, I’m sure they can help us.”  
  
“I did but… Honestly all of this is boring. A dance? I know what sort of boring thing it is coming from the school. And the flying broom formation is also horrible, and I won’t talk about the play.” She sighed again at the thought. “We should do something big! Make everyone smile! Don’t you agree?” When asking Diana, the girl sat up straight on her chair again, grinning at the girl while she was half-dreaming about the festival in her head.  
  
But Diana wasn’t thinking the same way. She could agree with Akko about the boring part, but it was a tradition in the school, and she couldn’t think about changing it like this. But maybe Akko would think about something good, like during the Samhain festival. Yet, she sighed at the idea of being involved with this, and she closed her eyes for some seconds before speaking again.  
  
“Akko… You should respect tradition just a little sometimes, you know?”  
  
“But! Think about doing a big show all day!! It would be so wonderful!”  
  
Diana opened her eyes wider and raised her eyebrows slightly at the idea of doing one thing for all day. It was ridiculous, they couldn’t do only one thing, and it would be very tiring after all. ‘How can Akko think about those stupid ideas all the time?’ She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed again to calm her mind.  
  
“Akko, this is senseless. It’s not even improving the event, you want to change all of the festival? And besides, doing a show for the whole day would be dull and tiring for us.”  
  
Akko frowned a little when Diana was against the idea. She really thought it was a good one, and she didn’t want to give up this idea.  
  
“But it will be great! We will do this with everyone-”  
  
“No Akko. Nobody will be able to follow this for the whole day, and I still think doing only one thing is ridiculous. We will do like the former festivals, understand?”  
  
“No!” Akko stood up and slammed her hands on the table, not holding her anger toward Diana. ‘How could she dislikes my idea?’ She was sure the woman would enjoy this. “I want to do this! The former festival is boring, nobody will like it! How can we make everyone smile when we do boring things?!”  
  
Diana sighed again and stood up as well, crossing her arms and staring at Akko while narrowing her eyes. She was also frowning, but not as much as the other girl, most of her angry personality was going through her cold stare that was matching the ice-blue colour of her eyes. But Akko didn’t move back and kept staring in the eyes.  
  
“You won’t change your mind Akko?”  
  
“No I won’t! I thought you would like it Diana.”  
  
Diana started to leave the place without even putting the book back where she found them, not showing any feeling on her face anymore, her mask was put on again, the same one she was wearing all the time last year.  
  
“I know how stubborn you are, but if you keep going, I’ll ask the teacher to remove you from the event. You’re only going to make things worse, like always. So stop this nonsense by tomorrow.”  
  
Akko felt her heart tightening from pain as she noticed how angry Diana was. She thought that maybe she had overdone it, but she really loved her idea, and she didn’t want to be the one giving up in front of Diana. Not in front of her rival.  
  
“Ah? You are the one making things worse and harder for both of us! Fine just leave, but my mind will still be the same tomorrow!” She stuck her tongue out at the girl before she also left the library and walked toward her room, gritting her teeth and still frowning all the way. ‘What’s wrong with her seriously.’ The painful feeling in her chest never disappeared though, and she felt a little sad, she didn’t even think her harsh words…

 

Akko went back into her bedroom, and as soon as she was inside, she fell on her bed. All her anger disappeared fast. She felt empty inside, as if she lost a part of herself. Fortunately, her friends weren’t back from whatever they were doing, Akko didn’t know but she didn’t feel like dealing with them asking questions about why she was like this. She brought her knees toward her chest and hugged her legs as her head rested on the knees. She wanted to show to Diana that she was wrong, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew she was the one wrong. Everything that Diana said made senses, and she didn’t even think about her idea that much, and now that she was thinking about it, she knew it was stupid, and she didn’t even want to be angry like this toward her at first.  
  
“I’m such an idiot…”  
  
Yet, she still wanted to do something for the festival, she disliked the usual way it was done, and she could change this, she didn’t want to give up without trying after all. She was going to think about a better idea, and she would do her best to convince Diana that it was going to be the best idea in the world. After gathering her determination, Akko jumped out of her bed and sat at her desk, ready to work hard. She decided to start with the usual activities done during the festival, and change them with something funnier.  
  
“Okay so… if I remember well…”  
  
As she was thinking aloud, she started to scribble things on a sheet of paper, writing everything that went on in her mind, trying to find the best ideas to make everyone joyful during the event. She mixed what Diana wanted with what she wanted.  
  
“The broom formation thing can be switched with a game involving broom… I’m sure Amanda would be happy to deal with it! Let’s go with that!”  
  
One another sheet of paper, she wrote her final ideas and the potential people that could manage those activities. She was so focused on her work that she didn’t hear her roommates coming back until Lotte talked.  
  
“Akko? Diana is not with you?”  
  
Akko jumped a little from surprise, snapped out from her thoughts. “Ah!” But she turned around to talk with her friends. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked away a little. She felt a little childish after thinking about the argument with Diana.  
  
“Well… I… had a little argument with her…”  
  
Sucy snickered a bit about the situation. She wasn’t expecting them to fight, but she was also entertained when she was around Akko, she couldn’t be bored around a girl as impulsive as Akko after all.  
  
But Lotte glared a little at Sucy, and the girl stopped and rolled her eyes. She then sat at her desk and focused on her potions.  
  
“Are you okay Akko?” Lotte asked, worried about her friend. She knew the brown-haired girl got along very well and was close to Diana, so hearing they had an argument hurt her as well. But Akko smiled a little at her friend and nodded, trying to comfort Lotte.  
  
“Yes don’t worry, I was the one wrong and I will apologize tomorrow. Not without another idea for the festival though!”  
  
Lotte was still a little worried, but her friend seemed fine. Yet, she gave her a little hug from behind after Akko turned around again to continue her work.  
  
“Do your best Akko!”  
  
“Of course! Thanks Lotte!”  
  
After the little supporting hug and words, Lotte went back to her bed to read her favourite books again.  
  
With both her roommate quiet in their sides, Akko was able to work without being interrupted. She kept thinking about new ideas. The boring play about the history of the witches could be more entertaining with magic! Lotte and Barbara could make a far better plot without drifting away from the original story, and with Hannah and Sucy, they could do something great! At least that was what Akko thought. With her ideas coming into her head, she couldn’t help but grin and writing more and more.  
  
She kept working about everything she could think about, until it was late. She didn’t even eat dinner and, when she finished, she went to bed without thinking more. Doing all of this tired her. She wanted to show her plan to Diana today, but she couldn’t even think properly, so she was sure she couldn’t convince Diana in this state. And it was also past curfew. She fell asleep deeply, preparing herself mentally for tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

Diana walked back into her room as well, but her heart was slowly tightening painfully and she could feel her eyes moistening. She tried not to let her feelings take the control of her body, not in the hallway. She didn’t want to be like this in front of everyone. So she walked faster until she finally reached her bedroom. And she reached her limits. Her tears slowly rolled down her cheeks, and she couldn’t stop them. At least she was only whimpering so it wasn’t that loud. However…  
  
“Diana?! Wha-What’s wrong?!”  
  
Barbara was inside the room and she turned her head when she heard the girl sobbing, even if it wasn’t loud. She quickly rushed toward her friend, worried about her. And Diana looked afraid of seeing her. She didn’t want to show anyone her fragile side, but even with her best fight, she couldn’t hold her tears.  
  
“I… I’m fine… Don’t worry about me Barbara…”  
  
“But you don’t look fine at all!”  
  
Barbara was really concerned about her friend. But she didn’t know what to do at all. It was her first time seeing Diana showing her emotions like this, so she’d never done something to comfort her before and she didn’t know what to do. Even so, she couldn’t let her friend in this state. Diana was always here with her, so if she could do anything to help her, she would do without even thinking. After standing for some seconds and seeing that Diana wasn’t answering, Barbara frowned a little and wrapped her arms around the girl to hug her tenderly. Diana jumped from surprise at the sudden hug, she wasn’t expecting this at all and she didn’t know what to do, but she didn’t push away her friend. It’d been so long since she last shared a hug with someone, she could feel Barbara’s warmth and she smiled again, even though she was still crying.  
  
“Thank you Barbara…”  
  
“You’re welcome… So, what happened? You can tell me, I won’t tell anyone else”  
  
Diana stared at her friend a little, her tears slowly stopped. She knew why she felt like this, even if she didn’t want to admit it, but she was wrong, she shouldn’t have argued with Akko…  
  
“I… Had an argument with Akko… And I know I was wrong… I just, rejected her idea without talking more with her… And I know that, each time she is like this, something wonderful happen, and she always brightens the events but… I don’t know why I keep sticking with the tradition…”  
  
Barbara smiled at her friend when she told her everything. She knew more or less what the two girls had for each other, though the two girls themselves didn’t seem to know about it. But she knew they would make up together so she wasn’t worried, especially if Akko was also in this state.  
  
“Having an argument sometimes happens Diana, even Hannah and I are arguing, but we’re still friends. The most important thing is to apologize, especially if you think you were wrong. I’m sure it will be fine.”  
  
Diana smiled a little more at the words and she wiped her last tears with her hand.  
  
“Thank you Barbara. I will do this yes. I will talk to Akko”  
  
The two girls smiled at each other and Barbara giggled a little, happy to see her friend back, and happy she was able to help her.  
  
“Good, let’s go eat dinner then, and you can apologize to her during it!”  
  
“Yes let’s do this”  
  
Diana sighed a little. Showing her emotions like this tired her a little, especially since she wasn’t used to showing them. But she was smiling again and she walked toward the cafeteria with her friend, hoping she would be able to tell Akko how she felt, and make her smile again. She deserved to smile after all, and Diana knew that Akko would be able to make everyone smile, like she makes her smile every day when she’s with her. Her heart felt warmer after talking with Barbara, and although she was a bit tensed to be in front of Akko, she knew she could apologize to her and reconcile with her.  
  
However, when they arrived at the cafeteria and sat at their usual table, Akko wasn’t here, and suddenly she felt empty with her heart tightening again.  
  
“Where is Akko?”  
  
She turned her head to look at Lotte and Sucy, Akko’s roommates were the only ones at the table with Hannah and Barbara. Lotte was the first speaking before Sucy could say something bad. Lotte knew how Sucy was after all.  
  
“She’s working, she was so into it that we didn’t want to bother her… And she wanted to finish it to show it to you tomorrow I think?”  
  
Sucy chuckled a little but decided not to say something.  
  
Amanda and the others arrived just after that, and everyone started chatting and eating, but Diana ate fast and went back to her room again without saying anything. Amanda asked her why she was leaving, but she didn’t answer and walked out of the room. Knowing that Akko was working hard for her made her a little sad because she couldn’t do anything right now, but she was also happy that the girl was working like this, and she was ready to listen to her tomorrow, no matter how ridiculous the idea was, they could always talk together about this after all.  
  
When she arrived at her bedroom, she decided to study a little before she went back to bed earlier than usual. She didn’t know what to do about the festival since Akko was already working hard about it, so she just decided to wait for the girl’s idea, curious about what she would think about. And she couldn’t prevent herself from grinning at the idea of something great, remembering the Samhain festival while falling asleep.

 

Both Akko and Diana woke up earlier than usual the next morning. They were excited to speak to each other again, especially Akko with her new ideas. However, they were both a bit tensed, afraid that the atmosphere between them would be cold after the fight. Akko was the most tensed, she was afraid Diana wouldn’t like her new ideas as well, and she didn’t want to have another fight with her. Of course, she thought she was the one to blame for the start of the argument, but she still didn’t want not to try doing something. And so, she was determined to talk about it to Diana. The blonde girl seemed as calm as ever, but her heart was beating so fast because of how nervous she was.  
  
Diana was the first one to arrive to the cafeteria. She took her usual breakfast without waiting too much since most of the girls in the school were still sleeping or preparing herself she supposed. Yet, she didn’t start eating and waited for Akko. She hoped she could eat her breakfast with her like they always do. And some minutes after, Akko finally arrived in the cafeteria. But Diana struggled to smile at her, her heart still hurting when she thought about the day before, but after some times, she smiled a little at the girl. Akko seemed to be struggling inside as well, and she breathed heavily to calm her heart beating fast from the nervousness, before she smiled back at Diana. After they both smiled at each other, Akko felt her heart relieved, and she was grinning. Diana didn’t seem to be angry after all and Akko was so overjoyed about this. And Diana felt the same, she felt relieved as well, and far less tensed than before, she could finally relax her mind.  
  
After some minutes, the girl finally sat in front of Diana with her breakfast, grinning as she stared at the blonde girl, which made her blush a little from the beautiful smile and sight in front of her, and she smiled back.  
  
“Hello Diana!”  
  
“Good morning Akko.”  
  
A silent came just after they greeted each other. Akko was nervous to talk first, and Diana was also nervous to start the conversation, not knowing what to say to each other. They were both trembling a little under the table, though they did her best to stay natural on her face. Akko started to eat her breakfast and Diana followed.  
  
“Akko-”  
  
“Diana-”  
  
They both started to talk at the same time, and after staring at each other in the eyes from the surprise, they chuckled a little at how funny the situation was.  
  
“You go first Akko”  
  
“Hmm okay… So… errr…”  
  
She was starting to be tensed again, and she took a sheet of paper from her bag first. She then closed her eyes to take a big breath, before she stared back at the blonde girl.  
  
“I’m… sorry for yesterday… I didn’t listen to you… I was wrong… sorry…”  
  
Diana opened her eyes wider from surprise. She wasn’t expecting the brown-haired girl to apologize, since she knew she was the one wrong yesterday.  
  
“N-No you don’t have to be sorry. I mean… I’m the one who was wrong, I apologize-”  
  
“You did nothing wrong Diana!” Akko said, a bit louder than she expected.  
  
“Yes I did, I didn’t listen to you at all. I know very well how talented you are when it comes to making events better and make everyone smile, and I just said what I thought instead of chatting together to think about something else… I apologize…”  
  
Akko didn’t know what to say. For her, Diana did nothing wrong, she was the one who was wrong the whole time. She looked away slightly and rub the back of her neck with her right hand.  
  
“Well, it seems like we were both wrong…” Akko said, but she stared back into Diana’s eyes after that, hers filled with determination as she was ready to talk about what she thought the whole night the day before. She took the paper next to her and gave it to Diana, who took it and started to read it while listening to Akko.  
  
“So… After what happened last night, I thought you were right and that my idea was stupid so… I tried to think about activities that would suit us both. I tried to take the traditional ones, and I… improved them to make them more entertaining… What do you think about it?”  
  
Diana was very surprised. Those ideas were really good, she opened her eyes wider again, shocked the girl could think about all of this in only one night, but then she grinned and stared back at Akko, her stare warm like her heart that was beating a little faster.  
  
“It’s… Incredible… I can’t believe you thought about all of this in one night… I-”  
  
“So you like it?!”  
  
Akko was shining with her broad smile. She looked at Diana and even leaned a little to be closer to the blonde girl, overjoyed that her friend loved her plan. She couldn’t hide her joy and she took one of Diana’s hand with both her hands, making the other girl flushing, though she didn’t look away and stared back into the crimson-red eyes.  
  
“Y-Yes I do like it… You even thought about people that can be in charge of those activities… It’s wonderful… I’m sure it can work Akko.”  
  
“Yes!!”  
  
Akko stood up and raised her first above her head to show her victory and her happiness. But when she noticed the girls around them were staring at her, she blushed a little and rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed to show this side of her to everyone.  
  
“Hehe sorry”  
  
She then sat down again, but her face was still shining from the excitement.  
  
“Oh and I want to do something as a final!! A show with fireworks and all! I’m sure everyone will love it! I’m sure you will love it Diana!”  
  
“A show…?”  
  
Diana was still surprised with the new idea, but this time, she looked a little worried and not into it. Not because she disliked the idea, on the contrary, it was because she was worried about Akko.  
  
“Are you sure? I mean, we will be very busy with the preparations, will you be able to train for this as well? I don’t want you to overwork yourself Akko…”  
  
Akko giggled a little at how worried Diana seemed, and she felt warm in her body each time it happened.  
  
“Yes I am! I want to make everyone smile!”  
  
Diana sighed a little, she couldn’t fight the overexcited Akko after all, and she gave up trying to stop her. She could always support her after all so it wasn’t that bad. And she wanted to trust Akko, she was sure that she could make this possible after all.  
  
“I understand. Then I will help you to prepare this, let’s make this festival a success Akko”  
  
“Yes Diana! Thank you so much!”  
  
Akko was still overexcited and Diana was giggling at the view when everyone started to arrive. At first, it was Hannah and Barbara, who didn’t say anything except greeting the girls, but they were both smirking a little at the girls, and Akko and Diana both raised her eyebrows wondering why they were smirking, staring at each other with surprise. Then, Sucy and Lotte quickly came behind, Lotte greeted Hannah and then chatted with Barbara until they sat at the table.  
  
“Good morning Akko, Diana”  
  
“Hey Lotte~” Akko waved at the girl.  
  
“Good morning Lotte.” Diana said, not as excited as Akko, but still in a warm tone, the one she used to have lately. She started to be comfortable in the group and, except Amanda, she was calling everyone with their first name.  
  
“Did you two…”      
  
“Yes Lotte don’t worry! we’re great friends!” Akko said, knowing what the girl was worried about. And Lotte smiled and sighed from relief when she saw Akko happy again.  
  
“Don’t worry Lotte, I’m sure they already did embarrassing things. Kuku” Sucy said, making the two girls blushing again, and Akko quickly said something.  
  
“We didn’t! I think?”  
  
“Akko!” Diana said, sighing but still embarrassed. “No we didn’t. We were talking about the festival.”  
  
“Oh that’s great!” Amanda said as she heard Diana while sitting. “So, did Akko think about something stupid again?”  
  
Akko frowned and pouted at the comment, and she stared deadly at Amanda, though it only made her giggle at the view. Hopefully Diana talked back to Amanda before Akko could be angry.  
  
“Akko thought about wonderful ideas O’Neill, you’re even there and I’m sure you will love it, isn’t it Akko?”  
  
“Yes! Let’s talk about this!!” Akko said and took the sheet of paper she gave to Diana so as to put it in the centre of the table.  
  
“So, I was thinking that Amanda, Constanze and Jasminka could do a sort of a broom match! I know Amanda loves flying on a broom! What do you all think?”  
  
Amanda chuckled and smirked at the idea. “Akko you’re a genius! Let’s do this guys!! Haha!” She seemed overjoyed about the idea, and Akko was relieved that everyone seemed to like them. Jasminka kept eating but she smiled as well, and Constanze nodded. After seeing that everyone seemed okay, Akko kept going with the other one.  
  
“Great! Next is a play. They used to do one about witch history during the festival, and I thought that maybe we could keep it, but with a better story! I was thinking that Lotte and Barbara could write the plot since they read a lot! And Hannah and Sucy could help them! What do you think?”  
  
“Do I really have to…?” Sucy said, she seemed not as excited as Amanda, but Akko knew she would react like that but still join, so she said nothing and stared at the three other girls.  
  
“I- I’m not confident in my writing but I will do my best!” Lotte said, she seemed determined as well, as usual when it came to books and writing, Akko chuckled and smiled.  
  
“Me… Me too! I will do my best!” Barbara said as well, making Diana smile this time. She was glad even her friends were enjoying this. Hannah seemed not as excited as the two girls, but she still smiled and nodded, making Akko grinning.  
  
“Nice! It’s settled then girls! Let’s make this event a success! Together! And make people smile!”  
  
Nobody said anything else, but they all smiled at the girl, especially Diana who was still staring at the girl’s eyes. They all finished their breakfast while chatting. Akko was speaking with everyone, but mostly with Diana, talking about the festival, but also other things like magic, and when they finished, they all went to the classroom, Akko still excited to talk with Diana, and everyone noticed how close they became again after their fight that only happened the day before, they seemed even closer than before actually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the chapter, the next one may be a little longer than this one and the previous one because I will also develop the other characters, but I hope you will enjoy it~


	3. What are those feelings?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana stares a lot more at Akko, and wants to stay with her more and more. She doesn't know what are those feelings... meanwhile, each team is working on their activities for the festival.

“That’s all we thought about so far for the festival.”  
  
Diana talked about the ideas they thought for the festival this morning. During the lunch break, Diana and Akko decided to talk to all the students in their class after the last lesson about the festival. They thought it would be better to tell them, and Akko also considered giving them a time on the scene before the last event. People were already excited for the festival, everyone started to talk to each other when Diana was done talking.  
  
“That’s so cool!”  
  
“I’m looking forward to going to the festival!”  
  
“Wow Diana is so talented!”  
  
Akko stopped everyone by clearing her throat quite loudly, she had to talk as well after all. She then smiled before she started talking about her new idea.  
  
“So we also thought that maybe people could do something on stage before the last event! You can find forms on the desk to write your names and describe your activity. Give them back by the end of the week, we will need them as quickly as possible to organize everything. Thank you! And let’s make a wonderful festival together!”  
  
Akko was as excited as usual, and Diana was staring at her the whole time without even noticing how most of the students were also excited for it. Maybe Akko’s excitement was contagious, but that was one of her strong points after all.  
  
“That sounds so good! Let’s do something girls!”  
  
“Yes!”  
  
However, some people could be heard talking bad about Akko. She wasn’t loved by everyone in the school after all, some people were still thinking she was only a troublesome student even after what she did during the missile crisis and about the Yggdrasil.  
  
“That’s good but… Why Akko is with Diana honestly… She’s just a dead weight.”  
  
Akko’s heart tightened after hearing this. She lost her enthusiasm for a moment and even stared at her feet. However, she also clenched her fists and gritted her teeth a little from anger. But Diana rested her hand on Akko’s shoulder, making the brown-haired girl jump a little from surprise while her heart skipped a beat, and when she stared at Diana curiously, she noticed  the anger in the girl’s eyes. Diana quickly talked toward the girls who said that, her face as cold as ever when she was angry, with her eyes narrowed a little to accentuate her cold stare and her eyebrows frowned slightly.  
  
“I won’t allow anyone talking bad about Atsuko Kagari. She is far from being a dead weight, she was actually the one who thought about everything so far. If anyone still thinks she’s not a great witch, then they don’t deserve to be in this school.”  
  
Akko felt her heart warming up again when Diana defended her. She was so overjoyed that Diana was so kind with her, and her cheeks turned slightly red blushing from the joy, she was also grinning while staring at the blonde girl. She could almost cry in fact, but she tried to resist the urge to show her happiness too much. How could she feel so happy when she was with the blonde girl? Even when people were badmouthing her, she was still happy to be around Diana.  
  
“Diana…” Akko whispered, but she noticed quickly that nobody was talking any more and were only staring at Diana, most of them a little afraid of the angry girl. Yet, Akko also saw Amanda and Sucy smirking a little, which made the girl frowning a little before she coughed a bit to catch everyone’s attention again.  
  
“That’s… I think we’re done now, you can go…”  
  
Akko sighed after talking, still a bit tensed after what happened, but she turned her head toward Diana and saw that the girl was looking at her. Diana quickly looked away and blushed slightly when Akko looked back, which made the brunette raising an eyebrow as she didn’t understand what was happening with the girl. At the same time, students were taking the forms on the desk in front of them and left the classroom, until the only people remaining were the three teams of the group.  
  
“Are you okay Diana?” Akko asked, a bit worried seeing her looking away.  
  
“Y-Yes. We should-”  
  
“Diana was so cool~ defending her princess~” Said Amanda as she was walking toward the pair, followed by everyone. The comment made Akko and Diana blushing heavily, but also made them angry and Amanda stepped backward a little from the dead stares. “Come on it was a joke!”  
  
“O’Neill… One day it will hit you back…” Diana said while sighing and pinching her nose bridge with how fed up she was with the girl’s joke.  
  
“Yeah yeah maybe, but for now everything is okay and I won’t stop.”  
  
“Amanda!!” Akko shouted and started to run after the girl, but she ran away at the same time in the classroom, making everyone sigh except Diana who was smiling at the funny view. When Akko disappeared from the room, she looked at everyone again who were chatting together, wondering what they will do after school. She knew that she would probably spend her time again with Akko to work on the festival, and even though it wasn’t the best way to be with her, she was glad she could spend her time with the girl, thinking about this made her heart beat faster.  
  
“What will you do now? I think Akko and I are going to work for the festival, and you?”  
  
Lotte answered the girl while smiling. “We are going to work together to think about the play for the festival. We have a lot to think about and we only have one month after all.”  
  
“We sure don’t have a lot of time yes. And you?” Diana said as she stared at the green team, without their leader Amanda.  
  
“We’re going to work in Constanze’s lab” said Jasminka, still eating as usual, but her voice was always sweet and friendly.  
  
“I understand. I’ll go search for Akko for now, if I find O’Neill, I’ll tell her about you.”  
  
“See you for dinner then!” Said Hannah, waving at her friend before everyone left the room. Diana was alone at the end, and she sighed a little, not knowing where she could find Akko and hoping she would find her quickly.  
  
“I have to walk around the school I suppose…”

* * *

 

Akko was chasing after Amanda as fast as she could, but even though the girl wasn’t faster than her, she still lost her track. She didn’t know where the girl went, and she tried to look around the place a little more to see if she could find her. She was around the office of the headmistress, and she was slightly afraid to be found here since she was usually here to be scolded. However, she couldn’t find the green team leader. ‘She must have run away’ She thought as she slowly started to go back to the classroom where Diana would certainly be. But when she passed in front of the Nine Witches’s hall, she could hear a voice she knew quite well, the voice of Miss Finnelan.  
  
“Why did you choose Atsuko Kagari?! She’s not suited to do this, she’s only going to mess the festival!”  
  
Akko’s heart tightened again, her hands trembled a little and her eyes slowly moistened. She knew Miss Finnelan wouldn’t really approve this, she was always making her angry after all, but it still hurt her a lot. She only wanted to do her best to become a great witch after all, and everyone was pulling her down. She had enough of this. She clenched her fists and put a hand on the door, ready to open it to talk without even listening to what they were saying inside nor who was inside.  
  
When Akko was ready to open the door, her arm was suddenly grabbed by someone, and she jumped from surprise. Yet she was ready to push the person away, until she noticed it was Diana looking at her and shaking her head. She looked angry, but also very concerned, and Akko felt a little better seeing that the woman was concerned about her. She stopped clenching her fists and let Diana pulling her somewhere else in the hallway. All the way, she stared at Diana’s face, her beautiful eyes and hair were always making her dream, but this time, she was mostly focused on the frowned eyebrows and the gritted teeth. The hand around her arm was also a little too tight, and when they were finally far enough, Akko finally talked to tell Diana about this.  
  
“Diana… It hurts…”  
  
Suddenly, Diana jumped a little, snapped out of her thoughts and released the girl’s arm, looking away a little as she felt sorry about hurting the girl.  
  
“I apologize Akko… I… didn’t notice…”  
  
Akko forced a little smile. She wanted to smile and comfort Diana, but she felt too bad about what just happened to do something like that, so it was a little forced.  
  
“It’s okay… don’t worry about me…”  
  
Diana turned toward Akko and frowned while looking at her. She didn’t enjoy that the girl was looking down on herself, and she stepped closer the brunette, making Akko a little disoriented.  
  
“Yes I worry about you, because I care about you, you did nothing wrong Akko.”  
  
“B-But… Finnelan is ri- eh?”  
  
Akko stopped talking when she was suddenly pulled into a hug. She opened her eyes wider and couldn’t contain her surprise. Diana’s body was more comforting than she could ever dream, and her heart stopped tightening painfully, this time it tightened weirdly but in a good way, she felt happy and she didn’t know what was happening. She blushed a little and turned her head slightly, trying to see Diana’s face.  
  
“What… what… what are you doing Diana…?”  
  
“Comforting you I think?”  
  
“I… see…” Akko answered, and after some times, she spoke again. “Thank you Diana…”  
  
Akko wrapped her arms back slowly around Diana, and waited there a moment with her eyes closed. She slowly felt better and enjoyed this wonderful moment. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster while she was blushing more. When she couldn’t handle more, she moved away a little and stared away, trying to hide her blushing face. Fortunately, Diana was also looking away a little, and her cheeks were a little red as well, so it seemed it was also embarrassing. Yet, Akko smiled again and giggled a little.  
  
“Thank you Diana! You really are wonderful!”  
  
‘Not as wonderful as you’ The blonde thought, but didn’t say, it was too embarrassing. She smiled back though and giggled as well. “Thank you, but we should go to my bedroom to work a little before dinner. Let’s go”  
  
“Yes that’s right… working…”  
  
“Akko, we have to-”  
  
“Yes Yes I know, but it’s still… urgh let’s go before I run away.”  
  
Diana chuckled while listening to the girl and started to walk toward her bedroom with Akko following her, and they chatted together all the way.

 

* * *

 

Amanda was running away from the girl chasing her, and she turned a lot to lose her, trying to take advantage of the number of hallways in the school. After some minutes of running away, she finally lost the girl and could catch her breath.  
  
“Huff, Akko is really fast, I’m glad I didn’t meet a teacher… now let’s go back home~”  
  
She walked toward her team bedroom and just thought about how Akko and Diana were so obvious together, she couldn’t help but giggle a little during her walk, catching some students’ eyes on her way, but she didn’t care about them. She then thought about the broom flying idea the pair gave to her team, it was so good she was really excited to work on it and then participate, she was really fond of flying on a broom and doing something involving her passion was so stimulating.  
  
She finally arrived in her bedroom after some minutes walking, thinking about all those things made time fly quickly so she didn’t notice she was already in front of her dorm room. Without thinking twice, she opened it and threw her bag on her bed when she saw nobody was in the room. She knew they would be working in Constanze’s lab so she sat on the girl’s bed and pressed the button hidden in the headboard of the bed. Suddenly, the couch turned and Amanda fell into a hole. Even though she was used to this, she was always surprised by the way to reach the lab, and at the end of the slide, she fell on a comfortable couch, making a little noise from the shock. As she guessed, both her friends were in the room, and Jasminka was sitting next to her, still eating crisps like she usually does.  
  
“Hey girls, sorry for leaving you! Akko was fast but I managed to win!” Amanda grinned a little, proud of her little victory against the brunette.  
  
“Hm hm, it’s okay” Jasminka was the first to talk, not that Constanze was really talkative, but the little girl was also so cute that Amanda didn’t really mind. She stood up and walked toward Constanze who seemed to work on something alone. Since Akko helped her during the hunt, the girl seemed to be more open for help coming from the others, but she was still working a lot alone. When she was next to her, Amanda gently petted the head and smiled.  
  
“So, how is it? Do you have an idea?”  
  
Constanze only nodded and didn’t say a word, but she was also smiling at Amanda, which was really cute in a way. Yet, her Stanbot talked in her place. “Good idea found. Amanda will love it.”  
  
“Ooh?” Amanda looked at the plan in front of her, but she couldn’t understand anything about it, and she scratched the back of her head. “Err so, what is the plan exactly?”  
  
This time, Jasminka answered, knowing it would be easier for Amanda to understand her than Stanbot. “We will do handball but on a broom, with a flying goal and magic will be allowed as long as it’s not dangerous.”  
  
Amanda’s eyes almost sparkled at the idea and she seemed even more motivated than usual. “Gosh I love it! Let’s do this girl!” She then turned to Constanze, knowing she would be the one making a lot of things and she lifted the girl while cuddling with her tightly, making the little girl blushing a little but smiling. “Constanze you’re great! I love you!”  
  
Suddenly, Constanze started to pout a little with the compliment making her blush, and the Stanbot gave a little electric shock at Amanda, making her release Constanze as she jumped from the little pain. “Hey! That hurts!”  
  
“Don’t embarrass Constanze.”  
  
“Okay Okay…” She then petted Constanze a little and sat on a chair next to her while Jasminka joined them. They started to talk about the details of their activity, and Constanze kept improving her plans until dinner came, and they all took a break to eat dinner. Amanda was really lucky she had such wonderful roommates, and she enjoyed living with them, it was never boring even though Jasminka was always eating and Constanze didn’t talk a lot. Yet, like today, they always had fun together. And Constanze was cute.

 

* * *

 

The four girls that were supposed to work on the play gathered in the red team bedroom after leaving the classroom. Lotte and Barbara sat on Sucy’s bed while Sucy sat at her desk, not even paying attention to the chat between the two nerds. Hannah sat on Akko’s bed and just stared at the girls in front of them, not knowing what to say. She felt a little too much in the group and really didn’t know what to do. When she was alone with Barbara, she was happy, but seeing her talking with Lotte was always painful. She couldn’t understand what was amazing in the Night Fall series, and it was painful not to be able to be the one talking with Barbara. While the two nerds talked about the plot of the play together, Hannah just took a book from her bag and read it in her own corner, she would follow whatever they think about the play.  
  
“Hmmm, what about a prince and a witch!” Barbara said, a little excited about the play, and she was always excited to talk with Lotte about books after all.  
  
“Well… It seems good yes, but we’re also doing a historical play, so I think we must do something horrible to the witch…”  
  
“Oh… that’s true yes… Well, let’s say the prince’s family discovers she’s a witch and tries to kill her?”  
  
“Oooh, it’s interesting yes!! And the prince saves the girl and run away together?”  
  
“Yes this! I knew you would agree with me Lotte!”  
  
Lotte blushed a little at the compliment and chuckled a little to make her embarrassment disappear.  
  
“Thank you… But your idea is great yes! We can work about this! Hmmm, and I was thinking, maybe you could be the princess Barbara!”  
  
“What?!” Barbara opened her eyes wider and moved her hands in front of her to deny the girl, not thinking she would be suited to be a princess after all. “No no no, Hannah will be better for sure!”  
  
When she heard her name, Hannah moved her head to stare at the two girls talking, and raised an eyebrow in surprise and confusion. “Yes?”  
  
“Barbara thinks you would be better than her in the princess role, what do you think Hannah?”  
  
Hannah frowned a little, but then she pondered a bit about the idea, holding her chin a little while tilting her head. “Hmm…” She thought about it for a moment, but thinking about Barbara in a princess dress made her smile happily and she finally shook her head. “No, I’m sure Barb will look cuter!”  
  
“But! Oh I know!” Barbara grinned a little at her new idea and stared at Lotte again to share it with her, hoping the girl would like it. “The prince could have a sister! And the princess would get along well with the sister and all, what do you think Lotte?”  
  
“Oooh, it’s really good! Barbara you’re amazing you know?”  
  
Barbara blushed and giggled a little at the compliment, but she stared at Hannah while smiling, hoping the girl would accept this situation. She really wanted to perform with her best friend on stage, and nobody could replace her, not even Lotte. “So Hannah, will you play with me?”  
  
Hannah blushed a little and looked away shyly, trying not to blush too much as she felt her heart beating a little faster after what Barbara said. She didn’t know what was happening inside her, but she felt overjoyed that Barbara wanted to play with her that much. She sighed a little and nodded as a smile appeared on her face.  
  
“If you insist Barb, it sounds good after all… and it doesn’t seem to be an annoying role.”  
  
Barbara’s eyes sparkled when her friend accepted, and she jumped on Hannah to cuddle with her happily, nuzzling the girl’s face while her face showed a broad smile filled with happiness. Hannah blushed a little more at the affection, but she hugged back her friend.  
  
“Barb… You really are spoiled aren’t you?” She smiled and gently petted the girl’s head. ‘And that’s what I love about you…’ Hannah thought, not able to say it to the girl, especially when they weren’t alone… And then she just noticed that the other two girls were looking intensely at them. Hannah pushed away Barbara gently and hid her red face in her book, too embarrassed to say anything after she was spotted in a moment like this…  
  
“S-So, I think Sucy should be the grandmother who hates witches…” Hannah said, trying to change the subject of the conversation before they can ask any questions. Sucy didn’t fall in her trap and was about to say something, but Barbara and Lotte spoke before, showing too much enthusiasm that Sucy could only go back to her potions.  
  
They all worked together until it was time for dinner. At the end of the day, they already had a clear idea of the plot for the play. Barbara would be the princess, Hannah the sister of the prince, and Sucy the grandmother of the prince who hated witches. Lotte didn’t want to appear on the scene and wanted to use magic for the scenery. They only missed someone to play the prince, and some people to play background characters. For the prince, they thought about Amanda since she seemed suited to be the prince. Only Hannah disagreed about this idea, but she never stated why and everyone else wanted Amanda so she didn’t have the choice. After that, Hannah and Barbara decided to go back to her room before going to the cafeteria, and they left the girls from the red team.

 

* * *

 

Diana and Akko were the only one left after the dinner. Everyone went back into their bedroom, and Akko wanted to start her training for the festival. When Diana heard it, she decided to stay with the girl as well. She might not be useful, but she could at least help if she was needed, and she didn’t want to let Akko alone.  
  
Akko, with her wand in her hand, was trying to move brooms and make them dance. She used to do it during the parade last year, so she wasn’t struggling so much, but it seemed that she had to train a little. Diana said nothing about it and just watched the girl while sitting on a bench in the courtyard. She had a book in her hand that she took to read in case she didn’t have anything to do, but she was spending most of her time staring into the girl’s eyes and feeling her own heart beating. Looking at the girl making all those efforts made Diana want to support the girl even more, and she also wanted to train her magic as well. So instead of reading, she stood up and took her wand to train with the girl, smiling as she looked at Akko who seemed surprised that the girl was joining her.  
  
“Let me train as well, looking at you made me determined as well”  
  
“Oh I see” Akko smiled back when she knew why Diana stood up now, and she stood next to the girl. “So, what are you doing?”  
  
Diana pondered a little as she held her chin with two fingers. She didn’t have much to train, but she could always train with the same spell that Akko used, it would also motivate the girl and give her an example.  
  
“Hmm, I think I’ll do the same you’re doing Akko, is it good?” She asked to be sure that it wouldn’t bother the girl.  
  
“Yes it is! Let’s train together then! I think I can still do the broom dancing, so I’ll try to train with the fireworks now.”  
  
Akko seemed even more excited now that Diana was helping her. She felt special to be tutored by Diana, but she also felt passionate to be with her alone like this. Lately, she was spending a lot of time with the blonde girl, and she really enjoyed all this time. After thinking a little about Diana, she finally took her wand again and stared at Diana, waiting for her to use the spell first.  
  
“The spell is quite easy to master since it’s not really powerful, you don’t even need an incantation after all. You just focus and believe in your magic, like you are used to doing, aren’t you?”  
  
Akko only nodded to answer, too focused into Diana and what she was saying to say something. Diana finally moved her wand above her head and after only one second, a beautiful firework came out of the tip of her wand, and blew up in the air and taking the shape of a flower. Akko was amazed by this and almost jumped from joy.  
  
“Wow that’s amazing! I’ll try!”  
  
Akko quickly moved her hand above her head, and she closed her eyes to focus on the shape of the firework and the colour. After some seconds, something came out of her wand, but it only reached some centimetres above her head before it faded away without bursting. Akko seemed a little disappointed, but she didn’t give up and closed her eyes again. But even with her multiple attempts, it didn’t reach as high as Diana’s, and she felt a little sad.  
  
“Don’t feel bad Akko, you’re doing great, it goes higher and higher with each attempt. You should focus on the burst now.”  
  
Akko nodded, but she still felt a little disappointed. Yet, she didn’t stop training until it was almost time for the curfew. While she was training, Diana sat back on the bench, but she kept staring at Akko the whole time, almost forgetting she brought a book to read. The way Akko didn’t give up at all even after all those failures was wonderful for Diana, and she was touched by this determination. She knew the girl could do it one day, maybe not today, but another day she would be able to, and Diana planned to support her until the end. She wanted to stay by her sides. She was smiling warmly, but she also felt her heart warming and pinching at the same time. She didn’t know why she always felt like this, but it felt great, she felt like she was really herself when she was with Akko, without her mask, without anyone expecting something. She was just Diana, and not Diana Cavendish. It was wonderful.  
  
Diana was pulled out of her thought when Akko stopped and stood up in front of her. Diana flushed a little more and looked away a little as she stood up and took her book quickly.  
  
“It’s… It’s late, let’s go to bed…”  
  
“Well, I just said that but yes let’s go!”  
  
Akko giggled a little and walked next to Diana until they had to part away to go to their bedroom. Diana seemed to look away the whole time, and she held her book tighter than usual, but Akko didn’t notice and only talked about her progress. She was able to make the firework blow, but it didn’t take a great shape, and it didn’t reach really high. Yet, it was still a wonderful progress and she was a little proud of her. She knew she would be able to master it for the show, and Diana would be with her, it was wonderful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I can't thank you enough for all the support you're giving me!! It motivates me so much to work more on the fic, and I hope you all love it so far! The next chapter will be even more serious with most of the relationships,and the last chapter before the festival! I think I'll publish it by Sunday~ <3


	4. I shouldn't feel like that

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana is afraid of her feelings and doesn't want to hurt Akko with them...

One week later…  
  
Akko and Diana were still working in the blue team’s bedroom. They finally had the list of people wanting to perform on the scene. As they thought, there were more people wanting to perform than they could. That’s why Akko was dealing with choosing the groups the most interesting, while Diana was dealing with the other papers they needed to write. They were both efficient like this, Akko was the most fitted to know if something would be interesting, and Diana was used to dealing with papers so she didn’t mind and they both worked fast.  
  
After working for a moment, Akko went back to her room and Hannah and Barbara came back to relax a little.  
  
“Huff, it’s so tiring to work with Amanda…” Hannah complained. She noticed that the girl was teasing her a bit too much not to be on purpose, and she couldn’t grumble since it was involving Barbara in a way. She didn’t know what it was, but it would be too embarrassing to say anything about this, so she just ignored, but maybe her face was showing too much since Amanda kept teasing her.  
  
“You say this but you love her!” Barbara answered while giggling. She also noticed how Hannah reacted to the teasing of the girl, but she didn’t know it was because of her.  
  
“What?! No way, she’s horrible and always- never mind…” She was about to let her secret go, but she managed to stop talking about it before. “How was your work Diana?”  
  
“Oh, changing the subject~” Barbara whispered a little, but Hannah heard her and frowned a little.  
  
Diana smiled a little and sat on the couch as her friends were chatting a little together.  
  
“It was good, we have a lot of work but we’re managing everything. Akko works well” As she talked about Akko, she seemed happier than before, and her friends noticed it, smirking a little.  
  
“Oh~? Hey Diana, what do you think about Akko?” Barbara asked first, even though Hannah wanted to ask as well.  
  
Diana was taken by surprise with the question, and opened her eyes wider before she flushed hard. “Well… I think she’s great… She is always doing her best and… She always care about her friends… and also her eyes are beautiful… her smile is brighter than the sun and…”  
  
Hannah started to chuckle a lot in front of her in-love friend. She was way more into Akko than she thought, and Barbara seemed to think similarly since she was struggling not to laugh. Diana quickly noticed her friends laughing and frowned a little, still trying not to blush but it was hard and her cheeks were a little red.  
  
“Can I be serious with you girls?” Diana asked, wanting to catch their attention as well. She really wanted to ask something serious without having them giggling everywhere.  
  
Barbara and Hannah stopped laughing after some time and nodded. They tried to be as serious as possible, wanting to be here for their friend.  
  
“Yes?” Hannah said, with a warm tone to comfort her friend a little and not make her too tensed.  
  
“I…” Diana was a little hesitant and was a bit afraid to talk about it, but she really needed to ask her question. She took a breath and sighed a little before she finally found the courage to ask her question.  
  
“It’s… how does it feel to be in love?”  
  
The two girls opened their eyes wider, very surprised by the question. Was Diana finally thinking about her feelings? Hannah was so shocked she couldn’t answer, and honestly she didn’t really have the answer, she had never fallen in love before, at least she thought. So Barbara was the one answering with her only experiences being her books.  
  
“Hmmm… it’s always unique, but most of the time, you want to spend more time with this person, you feel sad and lonely when you’re not with them, you always think about them, you think about holding hands, hugging, kissing and all. That’s the basic things at least?”  
  
Diana sighed again, this time it seemed to be like a disappointing sigh, and she stared at the ground, making her friends worry about her. She was in love with Akko. She wanted to be happy, knowing her true feelings, but she only felt sad, she was thinking about so many things currently, and she couldn’t feel her happiness.  
  
“Wait, are you okay Diana?!” Barbara asked, and the blonde girl nodded before she raised her head again. Both the girls noticed she had her mask on again, they couldn’t see any feelings in the ice eyes, and they knew something was wrong, but when Diana was like this, it was impossible to ask about this and they gave up. Diana was leaving the room but said something before she left.  
  
“Let’s go to the cafeteria.”  
  
The two girls stared at each other, and then nodded a little before they followed the girl. Since they couldn’t do anything, they hoped Akko would be able to deal with Diana, she was always able to melt the girl’s mask.  
  
Yet, Barbara’s answer to Diana’s question didn’t only affect the blonde girl. When she listened to Barbara, Hannah also finally put a word on her feelings and she didn’t know if she was overjoyed she knew she was in love with Barbara, or if she was sad because she didn’t know if it could be returned one day. She was feeling more painful than happy since she knew Barbara couldn’t be in love with her, it was impossible after all. Hannah thought she didn’t have a good personality, she felt like she was just a human leaving without being original, only following people, only following Barbara everywhere…

 

After dinner, Diana and Akko went outside to train, especially Akko. Diana was seating on the bench as usual, staring at Akko working on the fireworks. With only one week to train, the brunette could already make nice fireworks, but not as great as Diana. The shape wasn’t perfect, and they still had to go higher than that to be good enough. However, she was always doing her best, and she could work even harder with Diana by her sides all the time. She couldn’t feel depressed at all when she was with the blonde girl.  
  
Diana, meanwhile, was still thinking about what Barbara told her. She was still lost. When she stared at Akko, she felt everything her friend said to her. She wanted to stare at her forever, hold her in her arms again, and do even more than that. She felt herself around Akko, and not the fake personality she forced herself to use when she was around the teachers. She felt so happy she could die. But that was also frightening her so much. Akko was a girl after all, she thought it wasn’t good… and also, how would people react if she ended up with Akko? She was a Cavendish, she had to take over her family and rebuild it after school. She couldn’t let her future destroyed for something like this, even if it was painful… and more than everything, she didn’t want Akko to suffer by her sides… ‘I’m just hiding my feelings behind fake reasons…’ honestly, her family was an excuse, she knew she could rebuild it even with Akko by her sides. She also knew her mother wouldn’t mind at all her relationship if she was still here. Her true reason was that she didn’t want to hurt Akko. The girl deserved better than her. She didn’t want people to hurt Akko because they were disappointed in Diana. So, little by little, the blonde girl felt she was closing her heart to the girl, and it hurt her more and more. She felt like she could cry or throw up. But she cared too much about Akko to let her be sad by her sides. She was closing her mind so much that she didn’t notice Akko stopped training and was staring at her. So when she noticed, she raised her head a little and stared back at the girl.  
  
“What’s wrong Akko?” She asked, trying to force a smile over her mask she was forcing herself to wear.  
  
“Nothing but, are you okay Diana? I tried to call you out more than once you know?” Akko said as she seemed worried, and walked closer.  
  
But Diana stood up and took her stuff in her arms, too frightened to let Akko come toward her after she was doing her best to close her heart.  
  
“I- I’m good! But I have something to do today so I’ll leave you for now, sorry. See you tomorrow Akko” She said as she started to walk backward a little. And before running, she let out some more words, trying to whisper them to think to herself only, but Akko heard them. “We shouldn’t be close like that too much…” Without even letting the girl speak, she ran away toward the dormitories, and went into her room, leaving Akko alone outside, a sad face, but also shocked. She could feel a hole being dug in her heart from the pain.  
  
“What was that…? Did I do something wrong…?”  
  
Akko was starting to be really worried, and also wondering if she did something bad. Everything was doing well lately with Diana, and she thought they were starting to grow very close, and suddenly the blonde girl ran away without even giving a proper excuse. She knew Diana lied to her when she said she had something to do, she wanted to trust Diana, but she knew her too well to notice when she was making up an excuse and when she was honest, even though it was the first time she saw Diana lying. And what were the last words…? ‘What is wrong with being close?’ She didn’t understand it. And what’s more, it seemed like Diana couldn’t trust the girl enough to tell her worries to her. Akko sighed and stared at her feet for a moment, feeling as if she had been rejected. Her heart tightened again, and this time she couldn’t hold her tears. She took her bag and started to run away as well toward her room. She couldn’t hold her tears, they were running down her cheeks and staining her stuff in her arms.

   
  
All the girls in the room jumped from surprise when Akko suddenly opened the door and threw herself on the bed, landing next to Hannah without even staring at anyone or saying something. Everyone in the room looked at each other in surprise, not expecting Akko to return that early, and in this state. Sucy was working on a potion to make smoke for the play, while Barbara and Lotte were chatting together about stuff only them knew. Hannah was only following Barbara, she didn’t have anything else to do and she was nice around Barbara. But she didn’t expect to have Akko falling just next to her.  
  
“Akko…?” Lotte said, all the others speechless from what happened, excepting Sucy who was still focused on brewing, though inside she was also a little worried.  
  
However, Akko didn’t answer, her head sank in her pillow as if she was dead. She didn’t react when she was called, which made Lotte more worried, to the point that she stood up and shook the girl’s shoulder a little.  
  
“What’s wrong Akko?” But still no answer from the woman, not even a noise, she really looked like she was dead.  
  
“Diana” Sucy said suddenly, and this time, Akko’s shoulders moved a little on the bed, reacting a bit at the word, but then she seemed even worse than before. “That’s the cause then.”  
  
“What did Diana do?” Barbara asked, curious about how it could end like this after how obvious Diana was in love with Akko… but maybe… The girl grabbed Hannah’s arm and pulled her a little toward the door to whisper to her when Akko didn’t answer.  
  
“Do you think Diana rejected Akko or something? She seemed really bad after I answered her question…”  
  
“Hmmm…” Hannah pondered a little and came more or less to the same conclusion. “Maybe yes… I can’t think about the real reason, but it must have a link…”  
  
Barbara seemed a little sad, she felt guilty since she was the one that made Diana react like this. But Hannah petted the girl’s head and smiled warmly at her.  
  
“We can only watch how it evolves and help them, don’t worry too much!”  
  
Barbara smiled back when she was petted, and her cheeks warmed up slightly as well as her heart. She felt better after it, and almost hugged her friend, but she remembered the tension in the room and just smiled a bit more before she went back toward Akko with Hannah.  
  
“Errr Akko… I think I know why Diana reacted like this… Although I don’t know how she reacted exactly, I’m sure she’s just… worried about things? And, even if it hurts to admit, I’m sure you can do something about this, like you did when you brought her back here…” Barbara said, a little sad to let Akko do everything again, but it was only involving the two girls this time, and they didn’t have the right to do something about this. Even Hannah agreed with Barbara.  
  
“You can do it Akko, it also hurts me to say it, but well… you’re a friend as well, and I know you can change Diana. And I’m also sure she didn’t mean any of her words”  
  
Akko didn’t move at all after those words, but in her head, she felt a little happier, and she started to gain confidence again. She didn’t know if she was really able to do this, but she wanted to help Diana, she wanted to support her. But how… it was hard to know an answer right now, she didn’t even know why Diana reacted like this and lied. She didn’t know if it was only for today or if she was going to act like this forever. She also was still feeling really down, and empty. But she finally turned her head a little and stared at everyone, making the girls smile around her, and she forced a little smile back.  
  
“I… I don’t know but… I… I will try… Thank you…”  
  
After talking, she turned around on the bed to face the wall, and she brought her knees toward her chest to hug them, still thinking about everything. Her tears ran down her cheeks again when she thought about what happened earlier. It was still hurting so much, Diana was really precious to Akko, more precious than she knew actually. She started to think about a plan to bring Diana back, she wanted to do something big to convince her, she knew how stubborn Diana could be with her ideas, she had to fight hard to bring her back at Luna Nova, and the idea she had in her mind seemed as strong as the one back there. The only thing she could do was at the end of the festival. She knew Diana couldn’t run away from the scene since they were both the representatives of the festival. If she tried to do something another time, she would have to force her way, and it could make things worse. She would have to wait around three weeks to make her plan, but she would make it perfect. Her face brightened a little when she finally had something in her mind, and the girls chuckled a bit when they noticed.  
  
“Seems like our Akko is back” Lotte said, a little but warm smile on her face when Akko looked at her.  
  
“Yes, it’s not weird anymore now. Honestly Akko you’re not yourself when you’re depressed like this! Kick Diana in the butt!” Hannah said, giggling a little and smiling, before she whispered a little in a threatening way. “But don’t hurt her too much or…”  
  
“Okay Hannah that’s all~” Barbara said, covering the girl’s mouth while smiling. Hannah struggled a little and frowned as she tried to remove the hand on her mouth.  
  
All the girls started to laugh at what happened, even Hannah when she stopped struggling.  
  
After some time, Akko was finally up again, and she changed into her pyjamas when the blue team members left the room. Everyone went to bed quickly after that, ready to get up early. Akko had a lot to do to make her show perfect.

 

* * *

 

In less than a week, everyone in the group noticed something different between Akko and Diana. They weren’t even chatting, they stayed quiet all the time, only talking when they had to. Akko didn’t even spend her time anymore with Diana after school. She was most of the time outside to rehearse, while Diana was filling all the papers alone. She gave the papers to Hannah or Barbara when she wanted Akko to work as well. And Akko wasn’t trying to break the ice, though everyone knew she was planning to do something sooner or later.  
  
However, Amanda was a little fed up with how things went during last week. She was spending most of her time either in the red team’s bedroom for the play, or in Conse lab. But even when she didn’t spend a lot of time with Diana or Akko, she couldn’t stay quiet when they were ruining the mood of the whole group. After dinner, she decided to catch Diana in the hallway when the girl was going back to her room to talk with her.  
  
“Diana!” She said while she grabbed the girl’s arm and pulled her a little. The girl turned around to look at Amanda, but didn’t seem to be very happy about what was happening since she tried to tug at her arm to free herself.  
  
“Let me go.” Her voice was cold, without any emotions, Amanda knew it was the worst Diana in front of her, but even if she was afraid, she didn’t let go. She needed to say her words at least.  
  
“No, what’s wrong with you?! Don’t you notice you’re ruining your life and Akko’s life at the same time?”  
  
Diana opened her eyes wider when she heard the name of the girl she loved, but she quickly put her mask back again, even though she was struggling inside with her feelings. She couldn’t hurt Akko, after all she was protecting the girl.  
  
“Nothing is wrong. It’s for the best.” She tugged at her arm harder and set it free before she walked toward her room again, leaving Amanda behind her.  
  
“You’re just a coward.” Amanda let out before she also turned around and walked toward her own bedroom. She didn’t have anything else to say to a strong-headed girl like Diana. She knew Akko would be able to do something, but she also wanted to try to shake Diana’s strong barrier a little, though she didn’t know if it was effective.  
  
With her feelings still lingering, she lied on her bed and sighed heavily. Constanze was on her bed doing something to her Stanbot, and Jasminka seemed to eat while sitting at her desk. Amanda slowly crawled toward Constanze and hugged her tightly, nuzzling the little girl’s neck to comfort herself. She always felt better near the girl, and a smile popped slowly on her face, even when she was still complaining.  
  
“They are so annoying… those two… why can’t they just confess to each other already…”  
  
Constanze smiled a little while listening to the girl, though she kept toying with the robot. She didn’t mind the girl’s affection and enjoyed it a lot actually, to the point that she was smiling and blushing a little. When she finished maintaining Stanbot, she pressed her back against the girl behind her and closed her eyes.  
  
“How does the field preparation go?” Amanda asked, a bit curious since she was spending most of her time to prepare for the play.  
  
“Good, we’re almost done, Constanze is working hard.” Jasminka answered, with some crisps in her hand.  
  
“Oh good!! I’m sorry I can’t help you Constanze…” She said, closing her eyes and nuzzling the girl’s neck more. “It’s okay” the Stanbot said to comfort the leader a little. While she was close to the girl, she thought again about Akko and Diana, and she felt like she didn’t want to wait for eternity. She’d rather try than wait and be hurt all her life. Without thinking, she let out the words in her head.  
  
“I love you Constanze…”  
  
Constanze suddenly flushed and dropped her screwdriver from surprise. Her eyes opened wider as well. When the tool hit the ground, Amanda snapped out of her thoughts and noticed the girl red blushing in front of her. She finally realized she said everything out loud and she flushed as well. She wasn’t planning to say it aloud.  
  
“Oh… Did I… say it aloud?”  
  
The girl nodded and Jasminka giggled a little. Amanda suddenly flushed a little and tried to hide her head a little. “Fuck.” But she went too far to give up now, she mostly told her feelings out loud, so she didn’t have much more to lose. She suddenly pushed the button on the headboard, and the bed flipped, making the two girls fall into the lab and land on the couch.  
  
Then, a long silence… Amanda was struggling to find her words. Should she just ask the girl out? Or should she confess honestly? Her mind was lost, until Constanze rested her hand on Amanda’s. She smiled at the little girl, and, although she was still embarrassed, she just let all her feelings go.  
  
“Say Constanze… it may be weird coming out of my mouth but…” Amanda paused for some seconds, breathing a little more. ‘Gosh I didn’t know it was so stressful to confess’ and when she was done gathering her courage, she finally said everything in her mind. “I love you. I love your smile, I love your hair, I love your warmth, I love how you’re always burying yourself in your mechanic, I love it when you’re determined to build something new, I love how you never give up, honestly I could keep going for so long because I love everything about you so… will you go out with me?”  
  
The more Amanda talked, the more the girl flushed, and at the end, she couldn’t even look away from the girl’s eyes. She didn’t know what was happening in her mind or her heart. It was beating so fast, and her eyes moistened before she started to cry without knowing why. She wasn’t sad, she was overjoyed. Since she worked with Akko, she opened herself a little more to people around her, and being with Amanda was always the best. The girl didn’t push her to do anything, she was always supporting her, and caring about her. It might have seemed like they didn’t talk a lot together, but they didn’t have to, they got along well without having to chat. So, while she was sobbing and tried to stop her tears from running down her cheeks, she nodded and spoke only one word, not wanting to wait more to be sure about her feelings, she was sure…  
  
“Yes”  
  
Amanda opened her eyes wider after the answer. She was surprised, but happily surprised, and after the surprise disappeared, it let its place to happiness, and the woman gently cuddled the girl on the couch, closing her eyes and enjoying being with her new girlfriend. They spent most of the evening together, just enjoying each other’s presence, until they fell asleep on the couch without noticing.

 

* * *

 

Only two weeks left, and all the play team was starting to do serious rehearsals. They didn’t have everything for the play, but at least they had enough people, and they could always use magic to change their outfit. Lotte was still working on the scenery when she had the time. But during the training, she was the one observing the play and saying comments about it since Barbara was playing. Everyone seemed into it, even Sucy in her role, it really suited her. Hannah was just following Barbara’s excitement, at least she was happy to be with her friend. But…  
  
“Alice, I promise I’ll save you!”  
  
“It’s okay Leonardo… Thank you for everything…”  
  
“No!”  
  
Amanda, incarnating the prince Leonardo, got up and ran toward Barbara, the princess named Alice, before she pulled her in her arms. While she said that, Amanda stared at Hannah and smirked a little just before Lotte stopped them.  
  
“Amanda, that’s not in the script!”  
  
Amanda only chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck a little while staring at Lotte this time, ignoring Hannah again, even after making here angry.  
  
“Sorry sorry, it seemed better like this…”  
  
“M-Maybe but… we can’t continue until the end if you do this” Lotte answered, a little intimidated by the girl, but she still explained everything again and reprimanded the girl.  
  
Hannah was still angry meanwhile. Amanda seemed to have noticed her feelings for Barbara, and she kept teasing her like this by being really close to Barbara, making Hannah even angrier each time it happened.  
  
“Hey Lotte, can’t we make the prince do fewer things with the princess?”  
  
Amanda stared at Hannah again, and smirked a little more. “Oh no~ Hannah wants to part me away from Barbara, that’s cruel!”  
  
Hannah frowned a little more and glared deadly at Amanda, who only chuckled a little before Lotte finally talked.  
  
“Hannah, you already asked this… I… I don’t think it’s going to be a good play if we just put aside the prince during the story, why are you so pushy about this?”  
  
“Ah well… it’s nothing important… just forget what I said…”  
  
Hannah sighed a little and just sat back on a chair in the classroom. For the rehearsal, Diana asked a teacher to give them the permission to use an empty classroom. They couldn’t really do it in the little red team’s bedroom, and they didn’t want to bother Diana in the blue team’s bedroom. Moreover, Akko sometimes used her bedroom to work when Diana gave her some papers to fill, though she was mostly spending her time training for her show. Hannah just supported her from behind, hoping she would do a great show and that she would bring Diana back.  
  
Soon after she sat, Amanda sat next to her and started to talk to Hannah. Hopefully, they were far enough for people to hear them.  
  
“So, when will you move? Honestly you blame Diana and Akko, but you’re also so obvious.” Amanda said, smirking a little, but her tone was still serious. Hannah flushed heavily and looked away, pouting slightly at the same time as she was a little irritated after hearing that. Amanda didn’t have her word to say in her feelings after all.  
  
“Humph, I don’t know what you mean.”  
  
“Yeah yeah, if you want. But you know, just waiting won’t solve anything, and ignoring people like Diana is doing won’t work either, you can see how Akko is hurt lately.” Amanda said before she stood up again and left the girl with those words to think about.  
  
Hannah was speechless, but she also felt like she was hit by a knife directly on her heart. Reality was really painful after all… She tried not to cry since she didn’t want anyone to bother her. Of course she wanted to be with Barbara but… Barbara would never return her feelings… ‘but what if she does…?’ of course if she does, it would be so wonderful. However, Hannah couldn’t find the courage to confess her feelings. She was afraid it would break her friendship… Maybe one day she would find the courage, but for now, she couldn’t. It hurt her, but she was a bit relieved, since nothing would change if she didn’t do anything… at least she wanted to believe that.  
  
“Hannah! It’s your part soon!”  
  
The girl was snapped out of her thoughts, and stood up to join everyone again, leaving those thoughts behind her for now and only focusing on the play. She started to enjoy it a little more. She could perform with her friend, it was really wonderful, even though she was Amanda’s sister in the play, and this part annoyed her a little.

 

* * *

 

Finally, after three weeks of sadness, Akko knew it would be the last day. It was the day before the festival, and everything was finally done. Her show was complete, the play seemed to be good enough, and the equipment for the broom handball was finally done. Everyone worked hard for this festival. She struggled so much to think about a plan, and about what to say to Diana. It had been horrible for her, being left alone like this, the hole in heart never healed. She felt lonely, she felt sad, she didn’t feel like she was herself anymore. But she knew Diana wasn’t feeling good either. Each time she looked at the blonde girl, she was wearing her mask, but she could also feel the sadness on her face, it was as if she could feel Diana’s pain. So Akko knew the girl was forcing herself to ignore her. If she had noticed she wasn’t forcing herself, Akko would have given up, but it wasn’t the case, so she was determined to bring Diana back again, like she did when the girl tried to leave the school.  
  
“Finally tomorrow… Oh I must say something to Diana!”  
  
Akko thought she needed to tell Diana to watch her tomorrow. She knew the girl would do it, but she still felt like she needed to. And telling the girl about this might open her eyes more when she would see the surprise. The girl was outside, and with her broom, she flew toward the dormitories. After three weeks, she mastered the basic of flying, and even if she couldn’t go really fast, she was still able to fly for a moment without messing too much. She flew until she was in front of Diana’s bedroom’s window. She knew it was this one, the blue team was the only one with a bedroom this big, and she knew where it was inside, so she didn’t struggle to find it. Yet, it took her a lot of time to think about what to say today, and even more time to be calm enough to do something other than just flying in front of the closed window. She was afraid Diana wouldn’t even listen to her. She was afraid she would mess everything with only some words. Her hands were cold, and not because she was outside, but because she was frightened to knock. One of her hands was just few centimetres away from the glass, but it took her more time to finally be able to knock.  
  
Some time passed though, and nobody came. Akko could feel her heart about to explode with the stress, and her hands became a little moist with sweat from how nervous she was. She knocked again, but when she noticed nobody would come, she started to lower herself to go on the ground. Yet, when she was just below the window, it finally opened, and Akko smiled warmly. She finally saw Diana opening the window, and she quickly went back in front of it, surprising the blonde girl who almost fell on the ground from surprise after she squealed slightly.  
  
“A-Akko?! Why are you here?” Diana asked, her eyes wide open from the shock, not believing she would see the girl at this time of the day, especially through an open window.  
  
“Hehe I just came~” Akko answered while she rubbed the back of her neck a little. She was happy to see Diana again, lately she couldn’t even eat with her and could only see her in the classroom. So she couldn’t hide her smile. “And also I wanted to tell you something.”  
  
Diana sighed a little and crossed her arms, seeming a little annoyed to be disturbed in the evening by someone, even though inside she was so happy to talk with Akko. It was so painful for her to ignore the girl, and she felt so empty in her bed every night. She tried to go back to her previous self she was last year, but she couldn’t. Each time she tried, she could only think more about Akko and the sparkling smile of the girl. She tried to close the window to cut the conversation, but her body didn’t move. After all, she really wanted to talk a little with the girl, and she almost smiled again. Yet, she was still able to keep her mask so her voice sounded a little cold.  
  
“What was it then?”  
  
“Tomorrow, the last stage, watch me.”  
  
Diana raised an eyebrow a little from the sudden request, or maybe it was an order? She didn’t know what it was, so she sighed. It wasn’t like she could go anywhere else at the end of the festival, she was still needed to work until the end and make the festival perfect, for Akko.  
  
“That’s all? Then I will.”  
  
Akko grinned happily when Diana agreed, she was so afraid to be rejected that she almost cried from happiness when Diana said yes. Her cheeks warmed a little and she felt her hole in her heart closing a little. After three weeks, she had a normal conversation with Diana, it could only happen in her dreams lately. Before letting her feelings being shown too much on her face, she waved at Diana a little and started to lower herself again.  
  
“Thank you!! Then see you tomorrow!”  
  
Akko slowly disappeared, leaving Diana alone in front of the bedroom. The blonde girl closed the window and laid on her bed, feeling empty again. But more importantly, she felt disappointed in herself. She noticed how Akko was lately when she was trying to ignore her. She wasn’t feeling better than her honestly. Seeing her smile again when she agreed opened her eyes. She was an idiot, and like Amanda said, she was just a coward. She was afraid of her feelings, afraid to hurt Akko, but she still ended up hurting her. The worst thing is that, she was selfish. She didn’t say anything to Akko, she took the decision by herself, ending up hurting both herself and the girl she loved. A part of her was still not sure, but she started to believe in Akko again, after all the trouble she went to close her heart and her feelings, putting a blindfold on her eyes and her heart. The fabric covering those parts was staring to be undone, and she knew Akko would be in front of her if they were removed.  
  
Would they be removed tomorrow…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Already 1000 hits I'm so so happy!! This was the last chapter before the festival, and I hope you loved it as well~ I have a lot of free time lately so I'm overjoyed I can write that fast! And thank you so much for following my work <3 it means a lot


	5. Follow your heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana doesn't want to hurt Akko again, but she's still unsure about what to do with her feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your support again~ This chapter is the last one for the festival part! Aaaand it's far longer than I thought it would be, so enjoy the reading!! <3
> 
> Ps: in this chapter, the sport handball is involved, and my friend who read the story beforehand to give me a little review (she's like my editor and I can't thank her enough for that!) told me that in America it wasn't really known, so if you're not sure, it's this handball: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handball

BOOM  
  
Akko fell on the ground when she tried to get up too fast, her legs mixed with the bed sheets.  
  
“Ouch…”  
  
She couldn’t help but be so excited. After one month of hard work, the festival was finally here. She was looking forward to watching all the events people thought about. She already planned her day. As a representative, she knew she would be really busy, but she still found time to enjoy the day as well! She was going to spend most of her day around the stage with Diana, but it was for the best since she could still watch everything done on the stage. And she would be with Diana all the time. She was just a little worried that the girl would be cold with her…  
  
The girl quickly dressed and prepared her bag with stuff she needed for the day. When she was done, she rushed toward the cafeteria, hoping she would see Diana there. And her wish was fulfilled. She saw the blonde girl alone at their usual table, and she quickly ran toward her without picking her breakfast first. She wanted to talk to her, she wanted to stay with her and catch up with the last three weeks. But first, she hoped Diana wouldn’t still be cold.  
  
“G-Good morning Diana!” Akko was still tensed and worried about how the girl would react. Maybe it was a bad idea to talk to her like this and be excited. But Diana smiled a little. The brunette didn’t know it could be that wonderful to see Diana smile after so long, she almost wanted to cry. Diana seemed a little back, but she would still execute her plan tonight.  
  
“Hello Akko. You should grab breakfast before people arrive. We still need to check the stage after all.”  
  
“Oh yes” Akko giggled a little. “Then I’ll be back!” She then waved a little at Diana and went to take her breakfast.  
  
Diana felt far better than the last weeks. She almost forgot how wonderful it was to be herself with Akko. After the girl showed at her window last night, the blonde girl thought a lot about her feelings. She still didn’t know what to do honestly. She was still lost. But at least, she decided to face Akko and stop hurting her. She realized that ignoring the girl was selfish and was only hurting them both. So, even if she decided to forget her feelings, she wouldn’t make the same mistake, and would face the pain alone. And honestly, she felt better like this. Even if the situation didn’t change between them at the end, she wouldn’t mind staying like this.  
  
Akko went back after some minutes with her usual breakfast, and Diana stared at the girl eating with a little smile on her face. It felt great to be with the girl. She didn’t want to make the same mistake again.  
  
“So, it’s been so long since we last chatted together. I learnt from Barbara that you’ll make a speech before the start of the festival?” Akko asked, the first one breaking the silence.  
  
“Oh, yes I will. It’s just a small one honestly.” Diana answered, a little surprised by the question.   
  
“Hmm, well I was thinking about talking a little before my show tonight so I guess we’re doing the same thing but at a different time of the festival!” Akko giggled a little after speaking, making Diana blush slightly but giggling back.  
  
“I suppose yes, but I’m sure the content will be different. And yours will be much better.”  
  
“What? No way, I’m sure everyone will love yours more Diana!”  
  
They both ended up giggling while chatting before they finished their breakfast. The smile of the two girls came back on their face, a smile they had almost forgotten, as well as the happiness when they were together like this. When they were done eating, they started to walk toward the scene outside in the courtyard. The scene was surrounded with a magic barrier so as to make the inside as if they were inside a room. The two girls finished preparing everything when they arrived. They did most of the work this morning so that they wouldn’t have to work too much during the day. That’s also why they got up earlier than usual.   
  
When they were almost done working, they could see people coming in the courtyard and sitting on the bench around the scene. Diana was starting to be a little excited about the festival as well. It seemed like Akko’s enthusiasm was a little contagious. But she didn’t mind, it was rather fun for her as well. Yet sometimes, she would feel bad, thinking about her feelings, and wondering if she should at least tell Akko about them… She first decided to seal them and just ignore them but…  
  
“Hey Diana, isn’t it time?”  
  
The blonde girl jumped a little from surprise when she was snapped out of her thoughts again, but she smiled back at the girl and nodded.   
  
“Yes, I think it is. Well, see you later then Akko.”  
  
“Yes, good luck Diana!”   
  
Diana smiled again at the girl and breathed one more time. She could see every student outside since the room was illuminated, waiting for Diana to walk on the stage. But she wasn’t really tensed, actually she felt good. She was a bit excited to see everyone looking forward for the festival she worked hard on. Akko just stared at her from the side of the stage, and Diana finally walked toward the middle of it, where they put a magic microphone when they were preparing everything.  
  
She stopped in front of the microphone, and looked at everyone in front of her. During those moments, she put her mask on again. She was a Cavendish for everyone, not Diana who spent her time giggling with Akko. It was a little sad not being able to show her true self to everyone, but she was afraid they would be disappointed in her. And she didn’t mind as long as she could remove it with the girl she loved, even if the feelings weren’t mutual.  
  
“Thank you everyone for sitting in front of me. After one month of hard-working, the long-awaited festival is finally about to begin. But at first, I’d like to thank the teachers, for always teaching us and making us great witches. I’d like to thank everyone here as well, because you are the one making school a great place, and I’m proud to be here. And finally, I’d like to thank my partner Akko, who worked even harder than myself during this last month, to make this festival an unforgettable day for you. Everyone can now start the festival and open their stands if they have one. For the people performing on the stage, please follow the instructions and be ready at least fifteen minutes before. Thank you for your attention, and have a nice day!”  
  
Diana walked out of the stage with a thunderous applause behind her. She was glad everyone loved her little speech, and even Akko seemed to be happy about it. ‘Is she crying?’ Akko was currently crying in front of her, but with her broad smile and her cheeks red like this, even Diana knew she was happy. She walked toward the brunette and blushed a little in front of the girl showing too much of her feelings.  
  
“What’s wrong Akko?”  
  
“Nothing, it was just really wonderful! I hope mine will move you as well~ but first…” Akko chuckled and grabbed Diana’s arm, tugging her outside of the scene. Diana was suddenly surprised by the sudden move and opened her eyes a bit wider, not knowing why Akko was suddenly pulling her.  
  
“Wait Akko what are you doing?”  
  
“Let’s do the handball match together! I know we have some times before we are needed around the stage again!”  
  
“But…”  
  
“Come on Diana, only one match please!” Akko was pouting a little and almost pleading Diana with puppy eyes. Diana almost melted looking in those crimson puppy eyes, and she finally sighed.  
  
“Okay… But only one… And don’t we need to be a team of three?”  
  
“Hmm, I’ll let you choose the last person on the way!”  
  
“What?!”   
  
Diana was left speechless while Akko kept dragging her to the place where the game was. ‘This girl is going to kill my heart one day honestly…’ But she kept smiling, enjoying this little and precious time with the girl.

 

On their way to the field, Diana noticed Hannah and called her to play with them. It was the only solution she found in the little amount of time she had. At least she found a solution, she was afraid she wouldn’t.  
  
“Akko… don’t ever do that again…” Diana said, sighing heavily while Hannah was giggling a little behind the blonde girl, enjoying the talk.  
  
“Do what?” the brunette asked while she raised an eyebrow, not really understanding what she did wrong.  
  
Diana sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I had to find someone because you didn’t even plan someone to play with us. Hopefully I found Hannah…”  
  
“Oh” Akko giggled a little and smiled at Diana. “I knew you could make it so it’s okay!”  
  
Diana flushed a little and looked away slightly, not used any more to those sorts of compliments. Hannah was still chuckling until someone stopped the group.  
  
“Oh, seems like we already have a team, wanna play?” Amanda said, standing next to Constanze while Jasminka was eating on her broom. Hannah frowned at the provocation from the girl, and Akko smirked, hoping for this moment to come.   
  
“Yeah, and we’re going to win!” Akko retorted.  
  
“Oh~? It seems like Hannah also want to fight, but what about you Diana?”   
  
“Well, Akko planned this, but it doesn’t sound bad.”  
  
“Are you afraid of Diana, Amanda~?” Akko teased, only making Amanda giggling.  
  
“Naaa, we’re going to win. Let me explain the rules then. Each team has one goal that they have to protect and you have to score in the opponent’s, like real handball. You can move with the ball freely, without a floor we can’t really dribble the ball around after all. There’s a sort of barrier around the field that will make a sound when someone leaves the field, and the same for the circle area in front of each goal. Spells are allowed as long as it doesn’t harm people. And you can’t use a spell to fully protect your goal. Is it all good?”  
  
“Wow…” Akko was amazed by all the technology behind the game, and the two other girls were also surprised.  
  
“Constanze made all of these?” Diana asked, raising an eyebrow slightly, and Constanze answered her with a nod, still standing next to Amanda.  
  
“Hehe Conse is really good! Now let’s play!” Akko seemed excited like usual, and her teammates only chuckled slightly at the view. Hannah wanted to make Amanda pay for all the teasing she received from the girl. Diana wasn’t as excited as the two other girls, but she still wanted to enjoy this day with Akko.  
  
Everyone straddled their broom and flew up to the field. When they were all inside, it made a beep sound to notify that a game was about to start.  
  
“Wow, it’s so impressive~” Akko said, impressed by everything Constanze made.  
  
“Oh, one last thing. The game lasts only twenty minutes, but if a team reaches 3 points, it’s the end.” Amanda added to her previous explanation.  
  
“So, it’s either a time limit or first to three…” Diana concluded.  
  
“Yep! And you are the outsiders so we’re giving you the ball to start.”  
  
“Hmpf, you’re gonna regret it redhead~” Hannah said, sticking her tongue out toward Amanda, which made the girl frowning a little, accepting the challenge.  
  
“We will see…”  
  
Akko decided to protect the goal since she wasn’t fast enough on her broom, and Hannah was the one with the ball. On the other side, Jasminka was the goal keeper. Amanda was facing Diana, and Constanze was against Hannah.  
  
The board made another sound to inform the players of the start of the game. As soon as the sound stopped, Hannah threw the ball toward Diana, who took it and rushed toward the goal without even thinking about the two enemies. As she took advantage of the surprise from her sudden dash, she quickly threw the ball and scored. Even Akko and Hannah were surprised by Diana and opened her mouth wide from surprise.  
  
“Wow Diana…” Akko said, smiling warmly at the girl. But suddenly, Jasminka passed the ball to Amanda, who also rushed toward her and threw the ball. Akko tried to stop it, but she was also surprised by the speed of the girl that she couldn’t move fast enough, and she let in a goal.  
  
“Urgh… sorry girl” Akko said, rubbing the back of her neck.  
  
“It’s okay, we’re gonna make them pay for that!” Hannah said, even more into it than she thought she would.  
  
Akko frowned a little as she started to be really into it, and passed the ball to Hannah. The two girls flew toward the enemy goal again, but when Hannah tried to pass the ball to Diana, a wind spell changed the direction of the ball. Constanze was the one who used the spell, and Amanda quickly took the ball back. She went toward Akko again, but Diana followed her. She threw the ball toward the goal, not knowing Diana was behind her, but when she let go of the ball, Diana cast a spell.  
  
“Scrylla!”  
  
Suddenly, the ball slowed to the point that she was almost floating, and Akko took it gently in her hands. Amanda was still surprised by the spell, so Akko took advantage of this and passed the ball to Diana. The blonde girl rushed again toward the goal, and when Constanze tried to stop her, she faked a dodge and passed the ball to Hannah who threw the ball toward the goal and used a wind spell to change its direction before Jasminka could catch it, scoring another goal.  
  
“Yes! Take that!” Hannah said, almost standing on her broom, proud of herself. Amanda only frowned and gritted her teeth a little, a bit annoyed they were losing, but she didn’t give her last word.   
  
After this moment though, nobody could approach the goals. The four girls kept fighting the ball with mostly wind spells and time magic, they didn’t risk another kind of spell that could hurt people. If they kept going like this, Akko’s team would win, but the brunette didn’t like the idea of winning with the timer. After being fed up with the situation though, she decided to go out of her position.  
  
“Diana!!”  
  
Akko shouted, surprising everyone while she was going fast toward the enemy goal. Diana passed the ball to the girl and went behind a little in case Akko would lose it, but her surprise move shocked all the enemy, and she was able to score the last point easily enough. The field beeped three times, signalling the end of the game, and Akko shouted while raising both her arms above her head.  
  
“Yees!!! We did it!!”  
  
“Damn we lost” Amanda said at the same time, but she was smiling a little while going toward Akko. “I didn’t think you could fly like that honestly. It was a nice play!”  
  
“Hehe thanks to my hard training! Wa-”  
  
Her broom lowered itself suddenly, and Diana barely grabbed the girl’s hand when she noticed it with her eyes opened wide. Her heart skipped a beat from the fear of seeing Akko falling. She didn’t know Akko was still not stable enough on a broom.  
  
“Are you okay Akko?!” Diana asked, worried sick about the girl.  
  
“Haha yes I am, thanks to you Diana…”  
  
Diana sighed from relief and slowly went downward until they both reached the ground. She smiled a little at the girl, happy to see her doing well.  
  
“Don’t make me frightened like this again please.”  
  
“Sorry sorry, I didn’t know it would happen suddenly. I’m glad you were here!” Akko answered, smiling back brightly at the woman, which made the blonde girl blushing a bit and her heart beating faster. ‘How can she be so cute even when she almost injured herself…’   
  
Everyone joined them soon enough, and they shook hand together. It was really fun, all the three girls in Akko’s team enjoyed themselves far more than they thought they would, even Diana was smiling and taking it very seriously at the end. Suddenly, Hannah gasped and stared at Amanda.  
  
“The play! It’s time!”  
  
“Crap!” Amanda answered and let go of her broom to run toward the scene. “Conse! Jasminka! I let you handle for now! Sorry!”  
  
Constanze raised her thumb to tell Amanda it was okay, while Diana and Akko stared at each other and chuckled.  
  
“Guess it’s time to go back to work.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Sorry we’re late!” Hannah shouted when they arrived in the backstage area. They were panting a little after running from the field, and Lotte quickly cast a spell to change their clothes.   
  
“Girl… at least you’re here!”  
  
“Sorry sorry” Amanda said, rubbing the back of her neck. She was too into the handball match that she totally forgot the play, and Hannah also forgot it for a moment.  
  
“We’re going to start soon! Is everyone done with their things?!” Lotte asked. She was starting to be really tensed, and was more or less the only one tensed in the room actually. Sucy was resting on a couch until her turn, Barbara was chatting with Hannah a bit and Amanda sat on a chair, bored since she didn’t have to enter for a moment.  
  
Akko and Diana followed back after some times and entered the room as well.  
  
“Is everything all right?” Diana asked, concerned about the stage since they didn’t work on it before, busy with the match. But Lotte smiled at her and nodded.  
  
“It’s good, thank you.”  
  
Suddenly, Amanda needed to talk to Diana a little about something she thought it was important, and she walked toward the girl.  
  
“Diana, can I talk to you for a minute?” The girl seemed serious when she asked this, so Diana was surprised. She didn’t really want to talk with Amanda, but if it wasn’t for too long… And she was a little curious about the reason why the girl was serious like this.  
  
“Hmm… I understand. Akko, I’ll let you manage this place for a minute then.”  
  
“Okay!”  
  
The two girls went outside to chat alone without having other people listening to them.  
  
“So, have you finally decided on your feelings for Akko?” Amanda started, taking Diana from surprise and made her opening her eyes wider while flushing heavily. But after the surprise passed, she looked at the ground with a concerned look, still unsure of her feelings.  
  
“I… I’m not sure…”  
  
Amanda sighed a little at the answer, and rested a hand on the woman’s shoulder.  
  
“You should listen to your heart more.” She started to walk back into the room, but stopped just behind Diana for a second.  
  
“Oh, maybe you should watch the end of the play carefully~” She said before she left, not even letting time for Diana to answer or ask anything else.  
  
“Listening to my heart…” She stayed outside, standing for a moment. It was easier said than done honestly… If she could just do it, she would have done that since the beginning… would she? After some minutes, she went back inside the room, and noticed the play was about to start, so she checked a last time that everything was good before she joined Akko outside on a seat on the first row.  
  
“Thank you for coming to watch the play! Enjoy this love-hate story between witches and non-magic users!”  
  
The curtains opened with a girl in front of a woman and a man. The two adults seemed to be a king and a queen, and the smaller girl in front of them was certainly the princess Diana thought. She found Barbara really beautiful as a princess.  
  
The king, with a stern voice started to talk.  
  
“You will soon meet the prince. Don’t make any fuss. If you do, we won’t protect you, understand?”  
  
The princess bowed in front of the king, but she looked a little sad.  
  
“Yes, my king…”  
  
“The marriage is for next month, try to not scare him with your stupid powers.”  
  
The princess bowed more in front of the king, it seemed like she didn’t want to go against him at all. “I won’t.”  
  
“Good. Prepare your belongings, you will leave this place to live with the Prince.”  
  
But after hearing the new, the princess opened her eyes wider from surprise, not expecting things to go this fast. “What? But you never told me this-”  
  
“Enough!” The king cut the princess short, angrier than before. “When did I teach you that you could talk back to me? You just have to obey. You should be lucky we didn’t kill you like the other monsters like you.”  
  
This sentence also made the public react, it was really harsh after all. Everyone seemed really into it after only some minutes.  
  
The princess, after hearing her father like this, started to tremble a little, gripping her dress tightly while she answered. “Yes… thank you…”  
  
Everything went dark for a moment, and people could be seen moving in the dark on the scene, before the light went on again. The princess was alone in a room that looked like her bedroom, there was a bed with a bag on it.  
  
“He doesn’t have to be that mean to me. I did nothing wrong in my life. Is that how you treat someone? Even if I’m a witch, I’m still human…”  
  
The princess seemed to complain about her father, but also seemed sad about her family treating her like this. Diana could understand the girl’s feelings though, it was really a harsh treatment toward their own daughter… Suddenly, someone knocked and entered the scene. It was a butler.  
  
“Milady, the carriage is ready to go whenever you wish.”  
  
“Oh already? Then let’s go, I don’t want to stay with my father any longer.”   
  
The princess seemed happy to finally leave the castle for good. She walked out of the scene with the butler, and then came back when the scenery changed for a hallway scene. They were walking toward the other side of the stage, until they stopped moving when they were in the middle. Their bodies were still moving, but they stayed on the same place. Instead, the ground and the wall moved, probably with magic used for the scenery.  
  
“You were the only one kind with me Edward, you and the other servants. I wish you the best honestly. And if you want to leave this place one day, tell me and I’ll come for you.”  
  
The princess smiled a little while talking, she really liked Edward and she would certainly miss him.  
  
“Thank you milady, you’re always so kind with people like us.”  
  
The servant looked emotionless, but he seemed to enjoy the lady’s company.  
  
“Well, you are still human like everyone.”  
  
“Thank you. We will miss you milady.”  
  
The girl stopped in front of the carriage and turned around to look at all the servants who were here to say goodbye to the princess. Their goodbye moved the girl.  
  
“I will miss you too. Thank you for everything, and I hope we will see each other again one day.” She said before she entered the carriage, and waved at them, the carriage moving out of the scene.  
  
“Have a wonderful life milady.”  
  
The scene went black again for a moment. After that, the princess appeared again, with a castle in the background. She seemed to stand in front of the entrance. The girl sighed a little, but suddenly, someone entered the scene from behind her and talked.  
  
“Hello milady. How can I help you?”  
  
The girl jumped a little from surprise and turned around to stare at the boy.  
  
“Oh hello! I’m waiting for the prince here I suppose? Everything went too quick that I still don’t understand what is happening to me…”  
  
The boy smiled a little. “Well, if you’re looking for the prince… he’s right in front of you.”  
  
The girl opened her eyes wider from surprise and bowed a little.  
  
“Oh… I apologize. I- I didn’t mean to be rude like this.”  
  
The prince laughed a little and ran his hand through his hair.  
  
“It’s okay. You don’t have to be formal with me. I’m Leonardo, you must be Alice then. It’s nice to meet you.” He then gently grabbed the princess’s hand and kissed the back of it, making the girl blush a little and pulling her hand away.  
  
“I- Yes I’m Alice… Nice to meet you… Leonardo…”  
  
“Let me show you around, it’s going to be your new place after all.” He said, walking toward the entrance of the castle while smiling at the girl.  
  
“Yes… Thank you…”  
  
The two people on the scene mimed the visit quickly and their chatting, until they arrived in a bedroom.  
  
“And this is your bedroom. I hope you will love it. You can decorate it as much as you want.”  
  
Alice looked around, amazed by the size of the bedroom and grinning happily. “Wow… it’s even bigger than my last one. And the bed is so comfortable.”  
  
The prince looked surprised and raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t have a nice bedroom before?”  
  
Alice noticed what she said, and tried to dodge the point a little. “Oh… well yes I did but… not as good as this!”  
  
“I see. Well, just tell me if you need something, unless…” Suddenly, Leonardo held Alice’s chin gently. “You want something more special…”  
  
The girls in the public squealed a little, but the one on the stage pushed the prince away and frowned, a bit angrily. “What- What are you doing?”  
  
The prince laughed hard while smiling. “Just kidding, sorry if my humour wasn’t good. I won’t do this again.”  
  
To answer this, Alice sighed. “Please don’t.”  
  
“But at least you’re cute.” Leonardo said, winking a little before he opened the door of the bedroom. “I’ll come again to call you for dinner. You’re free to do whatever you want meanwhile.”  
  
“I understand. See you then.” She then fell on the bed and sighed again, resting her arm on her forehead. “What a strange Prince… he doesn’t seem a bad person but… He’s too weird… I don’t think it can work…”  
  
The woman stood up again and stared at the window. But while watching around, she noticed a girl in the garden.  
  
“Who is she…?”  
  
The girl decided to go outside to meet the girl. When she arrived in the garden, she started to talk to the girl.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
But the girl jumped from surprise, and almost fell on the ground since she was kneeling. “Ah!”  
  
“Oh sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you…” Alice said, feeling a bit guilty after surprising the girl. But the said girl seemed a bit annoyed and pouted a bit.  
  
“Oh really? And who are you?”  
  
“I’m Alice…” she answered, looking a bit away as she still felt bad.  
  
“Oh, brother’s future wife?”  
  
“Well, yes it seems so.”  
  
The other girl chuckled a little and smirked a bit. “Good luck with that! Leonardo is a little weird after all. I’m Lucy! Leonardo’s sister.”  
  
Alice finally smiled at the girl when she introduced herself, and did the same thing back. “Nice to meet you Lucy. I’m Alice but you already know it… What were you doing here?” She asked, wondering why a girl like her was outside alone.  
  
“Hmm nothing, there’s nothing to do in this castle after all…”  
  
“Really?” Alice seemed a little surprised and opened her eyes wider a little. The place seemed very big after all, so she really thought they were some things to do. “But it’s really big…”  
  
“It’s big, but everything here is so boring, so I’m just walking outside, alone as always.”  
  
The princess seemed even more surprised at what said the girl.  
  
“You don’t have friends??”  
  
Yet, after hearing the question, Lucy frowned a little.  
  
“Friends? Why would I? Who would want to be friend with a princess?”  
  
Alice scratched her cheek a little and looked away slightly again. “Well… Me?”  
  
But Lucy started to burst laughing at what she thought was a joke.   
  
“Pfft stop joking, you’re just saying this to be kind.”  
  
Hearing this made Alice frowning and stepping closer.  
  
“I’m sure I’m not. Do you want to be my friend Lucy? You seem to be around my age so I’m sure we can get along well.”  
  
The girl seemed to think over the idea, and finally accepted… she wouldn’t lose anything after all. “Well… I suppose I can give you the honour to be my first friend…”  
  
Alice giggled when Lucy finally accepted, happy to have finally a friend around her age. “You’re my first friend as well you know?”  
  
Surprised by the confession, the sister opened her eyes wider a little from shock. “Oh really?! The way you were talking about it, I thought you had a lot of friends.”  
  
“Well…” The princess rubbed the back of her neck “The only people I could talk to were the servants, and they were far older than I am so…”  
  
“Oh, well I’ll gladly take the honour to be your first friend then!”  
  
The light went black again, and this time Lotte’s voice could be heard again.  
  
“We will have a little interval of five minutes. Please come back before we start again.”  
  
Akko stretched her arms above her head, and Diana smiled at the girl.  
  
“They really worked hard for this, it’s really nice. Not the most original play, but in one month they did something well.”  
  
“Yes!” Akko answered, giggling as she seemed to enjoy the play even more than Diana. “Aah I’m wondering how it will end… Amanda is good in the prince role!”  
  
“Yes…” Diana didn’t seem to agree that much about this, but she didn’t say it and just stayed silent. Akko left a little and Diana took this opportunity to check with the play team if everything was okay before she went back to her seat.  
  
During the interval, Amanda took a little break, but she caught Hannah quickly to talk to her.  
  
“What are you doing Amanda!”  
  
She didn’t answer her until they were in a quieter place.  
  
“Let’s spice the play a little. If you believe in your feelings, stop me at the end of the play. Take back your Barbara if you can~”  
  
Amanda chuckled and walked back to the room without even listening to Hannah complaining with her blushing face.  
  
  
  
The play resumed soon after, with only Barbara on the stage.  
  
“My first week was good… I didn’t know I could make a friend the first day, and Lucy was really kind to me. She showed me around again, she played the piano with me, and we talked a lot every night. It was really good. I didn’t know it could be this good to have a friend. And the prince, well… He’s kind with me at least. He takes good care of me and he even taught me how to shoot with a bow, but I don’t think we’re suited for each other… And also, I should be cautious around Olivia. She’s the grandmother of the prince and his sister… And she’s also the queen… She looks evil. Well, I don’t get a lot of time with her so it’s good. I don’t want to be with her too much. Today, I’m going out with Lucy in the forest next to the castle! She wanted to show me around the place a little more, I’m so excited~”  
  
The light slowly fades away, leaving the smiling princess in the dark before Leonardo and Olivia appeared. Akko chuckled next to Diana when she saw how Sucy was dressed. “Pfft, It suits her…”  
  
“Alice is too weird… I’m sure she’s a witch.” Olivia said with a mischievous grin. But Leonardo opened her eyes wider from surprise after the accusation.  
  
“How can you say so? She looks like a human to me.”  
  
“She’s hiding something. And her parents sent her here too quick, something is odd…”  
  
“You’re just thinking too much Grandmother.”  
  
“Well, will you help me prove I’m wrong then?” the grandmother said, still with her weird grin, she was planning something bad and Leonardo knew it.”  
  
“How…?” He asked a little afraid of the answer. And he was right, when he asked, the woman started laughing devilishly, making him step backward a little.  
  
“Well it’s simple, just shoot at your sister when they are together. If she heals her, then she’s a witch, if she doesn’t, she’s not.”  
  
At the revelation, Leonardo opened his eyes even wider, a cold shiver running down his chin.  
  
“Are you crazy?! Why should I hurt my sister?! She’s going to die!”  
  
“Well, she’s really close with Lucy, even more than she’s with you honestly. And if it’s someone she cares about who is hurt, she’ll be more inclined to use her power. If it’s herself, she won’t be fooled and just bear the pain… or die… Just aim at her leg or arm.”  
  
“But that’s crazy Grandmother!” The guy answered, shouting at the woman while clenching his fists.  
  
“You really want to fight me? Do something other than you must do, and you will regret it.” The evil woman said, looking down at the prince without even caring about him. The prince knew he didn’t have a choice, and finally gave up…  
  
“I will…”  
  
“Good.”  
  
The light left the depressed and sad prince alone in the dark with his grandmother. And the scenery changed for a forest with a lake. The two princesses were together walking.  
  
“It’s so beautiful…” Alice said, amazed by the landscape in front of her. She was looking around before she smiled warmly at Lucy.  
  
“Hehe I told you!”  
  
“Yes, you were right… This place is lovely, I’d like to come back here…” Alice seemed to be dreaming a little while talking, a large grin on her face.  
  
“Well, just tell me and we will, whenever you want- arg!”  
  
Suddenly, Lucy was shot by an arrow in her stomach, and Alice looked around to see where the arrow came from.  
  
“Where does it come from?!” Alice seemed angry and clenched her fists hard, trying to find who did this, but she looked back at Lucy when she heard her coughing. She had some blood dripping from her mouth. Alice gasped from fear and felt her heart tightening hard.  
  
“I… don’t know…” The injured girl tried to say, and Alice ran toward her to kneel next to her.  
  
“Lucy?! Oh no… What should I do…” She took Lucy’s hand in hers and tried to talk to her, even though she was crying. “Lucy can you hear me?!”  
  
“It- It hurts Alice…” She coughed again before she squeezed back a little the girl’s hand.  
  
“Oh no… I…” Alice was trembling a lot, but she took a wand from her bag. She needed to do something for her friend. When Lucy noticed the wand, she opened her eyes slightly wider.  
  
“What are you doing Alice…?!”  
  
“Stay quiet Lucy, it’s going to be okay. I won’t leave you, I promise.” She said before she stared to move her wand toward the girl’s belly.  
  
“You- No don’t!” Lucy finally knew what was going to happen, her friend was going to use magic to heal her. And she knew her grandmother would do something against the girl if she knew it. But Alice’s decision couldn’t be changed.  
  
“Shut up Lucy, fuck! If I don’t do something now, it’s going to be too late and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life!” Alice shouted while crying more, panicking too much to speak correctly.  
  
Lucy was too shocked by how Alice shouted at her to say anything, and just stayed still, closing her eyes… She felt something warm around her injury, and the arrow was slowly pulled out while she felt the pain slowly fading away. The end of the wand was glowing green thanks to the magic Alice was using, and when it was done, she sighed a little from relief while Lucy opened her eyes.  
  
“…thank you…”  
  
“You’re welcome… Let me remove the blood from your clothes as well…” She cast another spell and the blood slowly disappeared, as if nothing happened. But Lucy was staring at the ground the whole time when she stood up, still feeling bad for what happened just now.  
  
“But… why did you… I mean… you will be in trouble now…”  
  
“It’s okay… I didn’t want to leave someone precious…” She answered while petting the girl’s head kindly.  
  
“But still!”  
  
“Shh, let’s go back home for now, you must be tired.”  
  
When she noticed that Alice didn’t want to talk more about it, she sighed and stopped bothering her friend.  
  
“Okay…”  
  
The scenery changed while they seemed to walk toward the castle, and after some seconds, they arrived at their destination. However, the witch was quickly surrounded by guards, and Lucy was surprised by this.  
  
“What is happening?”  
  
Olivia walked past the guards to stand in front of the princess, smirking devilishly. “You are arrested, monster.”  
  
Lucy was the first one to talk quickly after her grandmother talked. “What?!”  
  
“Silence Lucy! She healed you, didn’t she?”  
  
Lucy opened her eyes wider, her grandmother already knew. It was too fast…  
  
“How do you know-”  
  
“I do, and you answered me. I won’t give you more time Alice. You don’t need it. Guards, you know how we deal with witches, don’t you? Guide her to the scaffold.”  
  
“Yes Miss.” The guards said before they started walking, but the prince entered the scene before they left.  
  
“Alice!”  
  
“Hm? Leonardo?” The girl answered, a little surprised, but she wasn’t really enthusiastic.  
  
“I promise I will save you!”  
  
Alice smiled at the promise, but shook her head a little.  
  
“It’s okay Leonardo, thank you for everything… and thank you as well Lucy… My precious friend…” She then left the scene, leaving the family of three together. Leonardo fell on his knees, too shocked to even move. Lucy was the only one able to talk back to her grandmother this time, begging her to stop this.  
  
“Grandmother please don’t! She saved me!”   
  
“I don’t care. I won’t allow any witch to stand in front of me. And you know it Lucy.” Olivia’s tone was calm and composed, she really didn’t care. Meanwhile, Lucy looked down at the ground, feeling all her hopes and her happiness fading away slowly.  
  
“Like mother…”  
  
“Oh yes your mother, she was a pretentious witch, she deserved this as well.”  
  
Hearing this made Lucy very mad with her grandmother, and she clenched her fists, staring back into the woman.  
  
“How dare you?!”  
  
Olivia frowned at the girl, but her voice still seemed composed.  
  
“Are you going to fight back?”  
  
“…You’re going to pay for this…”  
  
“Oh~ well go back to your room now, I’ll deal with you later. I have something to do for now.”  
  
The light turned off, and turned on with another scenery. Alice was on the scaffold, with a rope around her neck, standing with her arms tied up behind her. People around Diana and Akko started to whisper.  
  
“Wow the grandmother is mean…”  
  
“Is that real? I hope she won’t die, it would be sad…”  
  
Alice cut the chatting when she started talking. Olivia was walking toward the girl, not showing any feelings.  
  
“I guess that’s a good death compared to something else.”  
  
“Accepting your destiny, monster?”  
  
“Well, at least I spend the last two weeks of my life happier than I could ever be.”  
  
“I see. But I don’t care. Guards, do-” but the grandmother was stopped by the prince shouting.  
  
“Stop it!”  
  
She chuckled when she noticed Leonardo.  
  
“Oh hello little prince, are you here to see the last moment of your ex future wife?”  
  
“Grandmother, stop this nonsense!” He shouted, frowning angrily at the woman.  
  
“And why should I? You know that we don’t accept witches here.”  
  
“I know yes, and that’s why I’m going to change this.”  
  
He ran toward the scaffold, and pushed the guards away with his sword when they tried to stop him.  
  
“You fool, I’m going to disown you Leonardo.” Olivia tried to make the prince frightened, but he only chuckled at the woman’s face.  
  
“No you won’t. I learnt that I’m old enough to be the king, and as a king, I condemn you to jail.”  
  
“What?” The grandmother started to be afraid herself, and trembled a little.  
  
“You couldn’t hide it from me Grandmother. I found it weird after all-”  
  
“Nonsense! I- I didn’t agree to let you be the king!”  
  
“But the court agreed.” He said, taking a paper from his pocket and showing it in front of the woman’s face, who fell on her knees when she finally knew what was happening.  
  
“What…”  
  
Leonardo didn’t say anything else, and removed the ropes around Alice’s neck and arms.  
  
“You’re free now Alice.”   
  
“I…” Alice didn’t know what to say, but suddenly, she heard someone else shouting, and a green thing popped out of nowhere and hit the prince.  
  
“Murowa!”  
  
“What-” The prince opened his eyes wider and fell on his knees, gasping from the pain. ‘Wow she’s going strong, maybe I teased her too much…’  
  
Lucy slowly entered the scene, crying a little with an angry face. “I won’t let you touch her!”  
  
Diana frowned a little. She quickly noticed something was wrong. Barbara and Sucy seemed too surprised by this to be a part of the plot, and she wondered what Hannah was thinking about. She took her wand in her hand in case she needed to stop it if it went too far. But she trusted her friends.  
  
The prince frowned a little and tried to stand up, still a little weak after taking the blow. “What?! But I saved her!”  
  
“And you were the one who hurt me!”  
  
Alice opened her eyes wider and stared at the prince, afraid of the situation. “What…? Is that true Leonardo?”  
  
“It’s…” The prince looked away, he couldn’t look into the girl’s eyes. “It’s…” ‘Damn it Hannah making me the bad guy now?’  
  
“I heard you talking to grandmother. You were the one who trapped Alice!”  
  
He didn’t say anything to answer, just standing here while Alice slowly walked toward Lucy slowly. But suddenly, he shouted at Lucy back angrily. ‘Fuck it, it’s going to be funnier that way’  
  
“I didn’t plan to hurt her in the first place! Nor hurting you that badly!”  
  
Lucy was as angry as Leonardo, and shouted back at him.  
  
“But you did! You hurt me, and you hurt Alice! You’re not better than Grandmother!”  
  
“Shut up you know nothing!”  
  
“No, YOU know nothing! I’m here to take Alice back with me!” ‘What am I saying?’  
  
“She’s my wife!”  
  
“Do you love her?! Do you care about her?! As much as I do?! I don’t care about your marriage, but I know that I love her!”  
  
The exchange between the brother and the sister was too intense that nobody dared talking, not even the spectators. Alice tried to walk between them to calm them.  
  
“What but… Hey stop you two…”  
  
Leonardo gritted his teeth a little before he turned away and walked out of the stage, grabbing Olivia on his way and leaving.   
  
“Ah so? Then take care of her. I knew the feelings you have for each other. But don’t show me your face before a long time.”  
  
When he was out of the stage, he whispered something to complain. “Seriously Hannah… pfft you’re silly.”  
  
Alice and Lucy were alone on the stage, and nobody talked for a moment before Lucy talked first.  
  
“I’m sorry…”  
  
Barbara knew it was a sorry for ruining the play and not her character saying sorry, but she smirked a little and walked toward the girl, going with the flow a little.  
  
“So you said you loved me hm~?”  
  
Lucy blushed hard and looked away slightly, trying not to think about how close the girl was. And Barbara took the opportunity to whisper into the girl’s hear. “Then our feelings are mutual~”  
  
“Wha- hm!”  
  
The girl opened her eyes wider from surprise. She felt something warm and soft on her lips. ‘She’s kissing me?!’ She felt like she could die. Her cheeks turned red blushing. It was so soft, almost like a cloud, and after a moment, she closed her eyes to enjoy it more while she kissed back. It was also so embarrassing to kiss in front of everyone, and she could hear them squealing and whispering embarrassing things.  
  
“Aaaawh they are kissing!! That’s so cute!!”  
  
Diana was really surprised as well, and Amanda’s words came into her mind again. ‘You should listen to your heart more’. were Barbara and Hannah listening to their heart? She flushed a little just thinking about kissing Akko, and her whole body felt slightly warmer.  
  
After some time, Barbara broke the kiss, panting a little to catch her breath after staying too long without breathing correctly, and her cheeks were also red.  
  
“So?” She said, smirking a little at Hannah, which made her blush a little more. How could Barbara be so composed and cute in an embarrassing moment like that?  
  
“So what…?” Hannah asked back, not really knowing what she meant.  
  
“Will you be my girlfriend?”  
  
Hannah gasped a little, and she almost froze for a second, trying to analyze what just happened. Her cheeks turned even redder than possible, but she managed to answer after some seconds.  
  
“Y-Yes…”  
  
Everyone in the public squealed, as if she just accepted a marriage proposal, while the curtain slowly closed on two girls smiling at each other. Diana also smiled, happy that her friends could follow their feelings like this. She was still struggling to think about a solution, but she knew that following her heart wasn’t that bad after all. Maybe she would do it.  
  
Akko seemed excited by the end as well, she was almost jumping on her chair, though she seemed to be blushing as well, which made Diana chuckle a little.  
  
“Let’s go Akko, we need to prepare the next event.”  
  
“Oh yes that’s true!! But wow they really kissed on stage, it was sooo embarrassing… do you think they faked it?”  
  
Diana raised an eyebrow, surprised that Akko didn’t notice they weren’t really playing at the end.  
  
“Wait, you didn’t notice? I’m sure they weren’t playing but that it was a true confession at the end.”  
  
“What?! Really?! Wow… they are so bold… but that’s cute then~” Akko grinned while she walked with Diana to prepare the next event.  
  
Meanwhile, in the backstage area, Hannah and Barbara arrived while holding hand, and everyone was smirking at them.  
  
“I didn’t know Hannah could be so bold~” Amanda said, chuckling awkwardly.  
  
“Barbara was even more, she kissed Hannah on stage after all.” Sucy said as well.  
  
The two girls flushed heavily, and even let each other hand go, looking away as they were embarrassed. And everyone kept teasing her for a moment before they left the room for the next group, Barbara and Hannah walking together, hand by hand, to visit the stands of the festival.

 

* * *

 

 

Akko and Diana worked hard for the whole day. Diana even had to fill some more papers during the afternoon, leaving Akko managing every group alone. But the end was near. The blonde girl came back before the last group just after Akko finished helping them. The brunette, however, didn’t leave the backstage room since she was the next and last one to go on the stage.  
  
“Tensed?” Diana said when she entered the room, but Akko smiled back at the girl without hesitating.  
  
“Not at all! I know you’re going to watch me after all.” The girl grinned warmly, but her hand holding her wand was trembling slightly. So, even if she blushed at the compliment, Diana walked toward Akko and rested her hand on hers.  
  
“You’re going to do something wonderful. And I promised to you that I would watch it.”  
  
“You better watch yes!” Akko answered, pouting a little before she blushed a bit. “Thank you… It seems like I was tensed yes, but now I’m okay!”  
  
Diana smiled and moved her hand away when she knew Akko would be good. It was a little too embarrassing after all. Her heat was beating fast, and she suddenly wanted to listen to it. She changed her mind. It was too hard for her to seal her feelings.  
  
“Akko.”  
  
“Hm?” The girl raised an eyebrow when she was called, wondering what was wrong. “What’s wrong.”  
  
“I…”  
  
Diana felt as if her words were killed before they could even be heard. She couldn’t feel any sound coming out of her mouth. Her whole body was frozen. 'I love you' were the words she wanted to say, but she couldn't. It was as if something prevented herself from saying them, as if her heart was held in someone's hand, threatening to crush it if she kept going. And her hands started to tremble. She knew she was afraid, and that it was herself that blocked the words in her throat. When she noticed that Akko seemed even more worried, she gave up and forced a little smile.   
  
“N-Nothing. Good luck! I’ll be watching!”  
  
“Yes…”  
  
Diana left the room, leaving a confused Akko alone. “What was that? Well nevermind.” She smiled again and turned around, ready to walk on the stage. The group was finally done, and they left on the other side. Akko took a deep breath, and started to walk toward the centre.  
  
“Hello everyone!! I hope you had a wonderful day! It was a lot of work, but I really loved it so far. It’s already my turn, so it means soon the end of the festival, but it’s going to be something unforgettable for myself! And for this, I can’t thank Diana enough, she helped me do the impossible! She’s the best! Together, I was sure that we would succeed, and we did! Thank you Diana!”   
  
Akko talked and grinned toward Diana who seemed to be blushing a lot. Then, with her wand, she used magic to bring a lot of brooms on the stage from the side of it.  
  
“Before staring this last event, I also want to say something to everyone. I want to tell everyone that they aren’t alone, and that if they feel the need to talk to someone, to share they worry to someone, to do anything, they could find people near them. Actually, it was something I wanted to tell someone, but I couldn’t say it in front of her… But it’s good like this, I’m sure she will recognize herself! And not only her, but everyone deserves this as well! So look around you, open your eyes, and you will notice everyone surrounding you! Now let’s have fun!”  
  
While Akko talked, Diana could feel that the girl stared at her a little, and she tried not to let her tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t have to watch the show to understand what Akko tried to tell her. And she was right. She wasn’t alone, she was surrounded with great friends, and with someone she was in love with. She didn’t have to be afraid to share her feelings with the one she loves. She knew that nothing could go wrong, that the worst case would be that her feelings wouldn’t be mutual, but she was sure Akko would never reject her. Not after what she said. And it made Diana overjoyed. She rested her hands on her chest, feeling her heart beating faster, and tightening a little from her feelings.  
  
When Akko finished talking, the broom stood up, and started to dance around the stage. She stepped backward to the back of the stage, staring at everything and everyone in front of her. While she controlled the brooms, she transformed the top of each of them with a bouquet of flowers decorating them. They started to dance around the stage, and Akko took one of her broom to fly around the stage at the same time. She started to make fireworks, with different colours and shapes: flowers, stars, planets, and so on. Everyone seemed surprised by how Akko managed to control everything. It was a little hard for the girl actually, but that’s why she didn’t fly high in case her broom stopped moving. She even turned her broom into an eagle, flying while standing on it. The other broom flew higher, and they started to turn around in circle, the flowers outside of the circle.  
  
Akko kept going with more funny things, and she could see everyone smiling at the show, which made her grin even more. And at the end of the show, she made a last firework, writing something in the sky: ‘You are not alone’. While she did this, she stared at Diana with her broad smile, which made the girl blush a little and smiling back.  
  
Akko was panting a little at the end of the show, a bit tired after using her magic that much, but she kept smiling and waved at everyone.  
  
“I hope you loved it! And thank you all for making this festival wonderful!”  
  
The curtain closed for a last time, and Akko disappeared behind.

 

Diana walked toward the backstage area, where Akko would certainly be. She made her mind. She decided to tell Akko her feelings. But she also decided to apologize for what she did the last weeks as well, and explain everything to the girl. Of course she was still frightened, but she didn’t want to put her decision off every day. She wanted to try confessing her feelings to the girl she loved.  
  
After some minutes walking, she finally arrived in the area, and found Akko alone, waiting for someone or something. She was sitting on a chair and looked around a lot. Diana seemed to be the girl she was waiting for since she smiled brightly when she saw her, and ran toward the blonde girl.  
  
“So? How was it? Did you like it Diana?”  
  
Diana could only giggle in front of Akko after all those questions, and walked inside the room before she closed the door behind her, not wanting anyone to interrupt them in the serious talk she planned to do. But first, she just answered the girl’s questions while smiling.  
  
“It was… wonderful, I loved it… You were amazing Akko.”  
  
Akko blushed a little while grinning, and she then jumped with her fists above her head to show her joy.  
  
“Yes! It worked!”  
  
Diana could only watch the girl excited like this, not wanting to break this moment. So, she waited for the girl to be calmer before she started to talk, with a serious look on her face.  
  
“Akko.”  
  
“Yes?” The brunette stared back at the girl, raising an eyebrow from surprise as she was called out of nowhere.  
  
“I… need to tell you something.”  
  
“What is it?”  
  
Diana breathed heavily again. She felt her heart beating faster with how tensed she was, and she stared to tremble again, like she was before the show. But this time, she didn’t want to give up. She wanted to make her confession completely.  
  
“At first. I apologize for what you went through the last weeks because of me… I…” Diana looked down a little, still feeling guilty that she hurt Akko badly with her stubborn behaviour and decision. “The truth is… I was afraid of my feelings… and I was afraid about people’s expectation. Everyone seems to think highly of me, and I don’t want to disappoint them. But I can’t… I can’t just follow people’s expectation anymore. Not since I met you Akko. You changed me and I was afraid that I couldn’t be back to my usual self in front of those people… But more importantly, I was afraid that you would be hurt by this. I didn’t want to hurt you… I feel good when I’m with you, I feel… myself, not the Diana Cavendish with her mask on, that everyone thinks highly of, but just Diana. And I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m scared of people… I’m scared of myself Akko…”  
  
Akko listened carefully at Diana, not even looking away. She didn’t want to look down on Diana, and she didn’t want to leave Diana. She stepped forward toward Diana, standing just in front of the blonde girl, and she smiled.  
  
“You know… The Diana in front of me is the one I prefer… I love when you smile, I love when you laugh, I love when you show your emotions, and not when you put a mask on. And I told you during the show, I’m here for you. You’re not alone Diana.”  
  
Diana felt her whole mind brightened with what Akko said. She felt relieved. She was afraid the girl would leave her, even after what she said during the show. So hearing that Akko was here for her, she stared to smile a little again. But she didn’t let her tears rolling down her cheeks, she was happy but she needed to say something else.  
  
“Thank you Akko… you’re so wonderful… I… I think I don’t deserve you in my life…”  
  
“And I also think I don’t deserve you because you’re so perfect, but you’re still here, and I’m still here!”  
  
Diana smiled at Akko, and finally she decided to follow her heart, like Hannah and Barbara did.   
  
“Akko…”  
  
“Yes?” Akko was waiting for Diana with a smile, ready to accept everything. Or almost everything since she didn’t know what was going to happen.  
  
“I…” Diana tried to confess with all her heart. But she felt her words blocked in her throat again. She forced them out, but she couldn’t make a sound. She didn’t know what was happening again. She thought she was ready, but the pain around her stomach told her she was too tensed for that. Yet, she really didn’t want to give up now… Suddenly, she thought about something… She flushed heavily at the idea, but she was serious about it. ‘Fuck it’. She leant nearer Akko’s face, and suddenly kissed her while closing her eyes. She didn’t know why she thought about it. She guessed it was the only way to tell Akko her feelings since she couldn’t say them. Akko lips were soft and warm. She could feel her own lips melting against them, even though they didn’t seem to be colder than Akko’s.  
  
Meanwhile, Akko opened her eyes wider when she was kissed. She really didn’t expect this to happen. She moved her arms up a little, but quickly, she felt her mind melting a little against the kiss, and she slowly kissed back. She felt like she was in heaven. 'What are those feelings…' She didn’t know what was happening. Her heart was beating faster, and her cheeks got warmer. Her lips were also hot, like Diana’s. It was a whole new feeling to her. Or maybe not… She was always feeling like this with Diana but… This time is was much stronger than usual. To the point that tears of happiness started to roll down her cheeks without her noticing them. She was happy. She was overjoyed. And soon, her feelings were too much and she stared to sob a little from happiness, which made Diana stop.  
  
Yet… Diana was so surprised by how Akko was. She was surprised, but she also started to hate herself. She thought Akko disliked it to the point that she started to cry, and Diana’s hurt started to tighten too hard for her to handle it. She also started to cry, but her tears were tears of sadness and despair.  
  
“I… I hurt you again… Sorry… Sorry…”  
  
Diana felt too broken to do anything, and she couldn’t even stare at Akko in the eyes. So she ran away, not letting the time for Akko to stop her.  
  
“Wait Diana! It’s not like this!”  
  
But Diana was already out of the room when Akko talked… It seemed that Diana misunderstood the situation, and Akko didn’t know what to do… When she decided to chase after Diana, she couldn’t find her at all, and it was time for the curfew. It was an Akko who seemed on the verge of the ruin that entered the bedroom of the red team.  
  
“I messed everything up…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading again~ <3 The end of this part means the start of another part! In the next one, Akko and Diana relationship is going to be the main subject! It's going to be really soft I think? I still don't know everything that I want to write, only the main line, but I think you will enjoy it!!


	6. I love you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akko and Diana both cried after the kiss they shared, how will they deal with that?

“What’s wrong Akko” Lotte suddenly jumped out of her bed when she saw Akko entering the bedroom in the worst state she’d ever seen her. The brunette didn’t say anything and walked toward her bed before she brought her legs toward her chest and hug them, still crying. Her face was a mess, and her mind wasn’t better, almost broken. She still didn’t know what happened. Diana suddenly kissed her, and a moment after, they were both crying and running away. At least Diana seemed to have run away.  
  
Lotte looked at Akko for a moment, with her worried face, but Sucy talked first while she was still reading her book, not even giving a once-over to the crying girl.  
  
“Diana made Akko cry again, great.”  
  
“Sucy!” Lotte frowned angrily at Sucy who said something she shouldn’t have said, but Akko didn’t react, only staring at nothing.  
  
“She didn’t… I made her cry… I don’t know what happened. I’m lost argh!” Akko’s feelings changed from despair to inability to understand what happened. She suddenly groaned and scratched her hair in a messy way. She was utterly lost. “Why did she kiss me so suddenly?!”  
  
“She… kissed you?” Lotte said, very surprised by what Akko said. She didn’t think the blonde girl would have made a bold move like this, but it made her chuckle a little. “So she did it hmm…”  
  
“What’s wrong Lotte? What are you saying? Tell me if you know something!” Akko said, her eyes opened a little wider at what her friend said. It seemed that the girl knew a lot more than Akko did, and it made the brunette inquisitive. “Why did she kiss me?!”  
  
Lotte pondered a little, she knew more or less why Diana kissed Akko, after all it was pretty obvious Diana was in love with Akko. But she also needed to know more about what happened as well. And she wanted to know, her curious and romantic side awakening.   
  
“Hmm, tell me what happened before.”  
  
Akko frowned a little, not really sure about telling them what happened, but after a moment, she sighed and resigned to hide it. She couldn’t really think about all of this by herself, and Lotte was the kind of girl to know a lot about that stuff thanks to her books so… maybe it could be a good idea to tell her.  
  
“So… after the show, I waited for her in the backstage area since I knew she would come, and she did. Then she apologized about the last weeks when it was kinda weird between us, and she told me why. Well I don’t think it’s related to the kiss so I won’t say it… But after that, when we fixed this, she told me she had to tell me something else but she said nothing and… she kissed me… I didn’t know what was happening it was so sudden!! I was lost, but it was weird, I felt happy, so happy that I cried… But Diana though I was sad with the tears and ran away… Now tell me why she kissed me Lotte!”  
  
Akko was a little red embarrassed to tell her private life to her friends, but if she could find answers to her question, it was a sacrifice she needed to make. Lotte just listened to her friend’s story, but the more she heard, the more she grinned. Akko raised an eyebrow when she finally noticed the lopsided smile on her friend’s face.   
  
“Lotte?”  
  
“Love is so beautiful…”  
  
“Love?”  
  
“You still didn’t notice? Akko, Diana kissed you because she loves you.”  
  
“What?!” Akko exclaimed with her eyes opened wide. She couldn’t trust what she just heard. Diana loved her? It was impossible. Diana couldn’t love someone like Akko. And a love between two girls? Well… Akko didn’t mind this part, but still it was too weird.  
  
“Are you kidding me? It’s a joke right?”  
  
“Dumb Akko is even dumber in those situations…” Sucy said, snorting a little at her comment and the situation.  
  
“Sucy!” Lotte said again before she resumed talking with the brunette. “Do I look like I’m kidding Akko?”  
  
“No but…” Akko looked away a little, she was still lost, very lost, and she rubbed the back of her neck. “She loves me? That’s nonsense. Why did she kiss me Lotte?”  
  
“Okay let’s do something else.” Lotte answered, sighting heavily. “I will ask you questions, and you will answer me honestly, okay?”  
  
Akko nodded, sitting cross-legged this time. She listened carefully at her friend and was ready to answer the questions she thought would be simple. If she could understand whatever was happening, she didn’t mind answering two or three dumb questions.  
  
“Do you think a lot about Diana?”  
  
Akko opened her eyes a little wider when the question involved Diana, but she did answer honestly. “Yes?”  
  
“And, do you miss her when you’re not with her?”  
  
Again, a question about Diana. She felt like the questions are going to involve the blonde girls, and she sighed in her head, rolling her eyes a little. The questions were going to be a lot more annoying than she thought…  
  
“Well… I suppose I do? I mean, it’s much funnier to be around her isn’t it?”  
  
Lotte didn’t answer Akko’s question and asked another one.  
  
“Do you love Diana?”  
  
This question was a little too much for the brunette, and she jumped a little from surprise, flushing heavily. Love? She had never thought about her feelings like this. She had never thought about her feelings at all actually. Was she in love with Diana? It was too hard to know and she pondered about it a lot of time. What was love? How could she know she’s in love? Too many questions popped in her mind without any answer found.   
  
“Err… Do I have to answer?”  
  
“Yes!”  
  
Akko gulped a little in front of the really serious Lotte. She prepared herself to answer at the really embarrassing question… But first…  
  
“How can I know I’m in love honestly?”  
  
Lotte sighed a little, feeling like she had to teach her friend everything about romantic stuff, it started to be a little tiring. Hopefully, the girl enjoyed herself in this situation, it was always entertaining to look at her friends’ relationship.  
  
“Okay so… Let’s say it’s when you want to be with someone forever, make her happy, hold her in your arms, kissing her, and miss her when you’re not around her. And it makes you jealous when she’s with someone else.”  
  
“Hmm… Am I feeling like this?” Akko tilted her head slightly as she started to ponder about it seriously. “Well of course I want to make her happy, she’s my precious friend… and I can’t deny that I want to hug her… And yes I miss her when I’m not around her but… with someone else…” Akko’s voice lowered a little as she started to imagine Diana doing what they are doing together with someone else, and suddenly Akko felt a little angry. ‘Yes I’m jealous’ “I suppose I’m in love yes… I’m…” It abruptly hit her mind. She opened her eyes wider when she finally realized she was in love with Diana. Her mind changed as well as her world. She needed to tell Diana this. She knew it was real and that Diana loved her as well. She kissed her after all. She could still feel the warmth of the girl’s lips on her own, and she loved it so much. Yes… She wanted to do it again, she wanted to stay with Diana, she wanted to be closer to her, she wanted to be special to her. She loved the girl’s hair, she loved her eyes that looked like blue-ice gemstones. She loved her smile that she showed almost only around her. She loved when her cheeks turned red blushing. She loved her warmth. She loved everything about Diana. And the more she recognized it, the more she felt painful about what happened earlier. She had to dismiss the misunderstand between them now.  
  
“I need to tell her this!”  Akko jumped on her feet and started to open the door of the bedroom before Lotte clutched her arm.   
  
“Wait Akko it’s late!”  
  
“Oh, yes that’s true… but…” Akko hadn’t moved yet, she really wanted to talk to Diana now, even though Lotte was right.  
  
“You can talk to her tomorrow Akko, and maybe she’s already sleeping.”  
  
Akko thought about it a little, and finally gave up. It was true that she could still talk to her tomorrow, and she really didn’t want to face an angry Diana if she woke her up. She closed the door again and smiled at her friend.  
  
“Thank you, I suppose I will talk to her tomorrow yes… Let’s sleep now then!”  
  
“Yes, or you won’t get up for classes in time”  
  
Akko pouted a little and frowned a bit at her friend’s comment, but she then laughed a little, feeling a lot more relaxed than before, even though she still wanted to see Diana. She wondered what the blonde girl was doing right now… Was she really sleeping?

* * *

After she saw Akko crying, Diana ran away. She ran away as fast as she could. She hated herself for making Akko sad again, even though she promised she wouldn’t make her sad again. She was so sickened about herself that she was even running in the hallway, until she reached her bedroom.  Her tears were still running down her cheeks, she couldn’t hold them back, not after seeing the only girl she loved with tears on her face. When she finally entered her bedroom, she closed the door as fast as she could and just stood up. Slamming the door made her friends jumping, and they both looked at the blonde girl worried sick. Yet Barbara sighed a little at the view.  
  
“I feel like a déjà vu…” She whispered a little and only Hannah heard her, which made the auburn-haired girl raising an eyebrow, and she whispered at her girlfriend to know more.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Well, last month she was like this after she had an argument with Akko… I’m sure it has something to do with Akko again this time…” Barbara whispered back, before she walked closer to the quiet blonde girl.  
  
“Did something happen with Akko?”  
  
Diana didn’t move at all, but she nodded slightly. Her shoulders were still shaking while she was sobbing. She couldn’t concentrate well on her friends’ voice. She was still feeling bad after what she did to Atsuko. She didn’t want to forgive herself for what she did, and she felt like her heart was pulled away from her body. It hurt… but Akko also suffered…  
  
“I’m gonna have a talk with this Atsuko Kagari, she will regret hurting Diana!” Hannah exclaimed angrily, but before she could open the door, Diana stopped her by grabbing the girl’s shirt.  
  
“No she… I was the one hurting her…”  
  
“Hm? What happened?” Barbara asked while raising an eyebrow, though Hannah was as curious and surprised as Barbara.  
  
“I… made her cry by kissing her…” Diana stated as she hugged herself and clutched her clothes, remembering the tears on the girl’s face. Usually she would have been a little embarrassed to say this, but she was feeling despair currently and couldn’t really be bothered by something like embarrassment.  
  
“You… wait I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have been sad about this.” Hannah said loudly without thinking, which made Diana looking at her quizzically.   
  
“What do you mean? She cried, I’m sure I saw this, it… it’s still haunting me…” Diana looked away a little while she lowered her sight to stare at the ground. Barbara and Hannah looked at each other with her eyebrows raised again before they both sighed and pulled Diana inside the room. The girl didn’t struggle and just moved where she was guided without even thinking. She was made to sit on one of the beds, but she was still looking at the ground.  
  
“You really are both such useless lesbian honestly. Everyone in the group knew that Akko loves you, that’s why Hannah said Akko wouldn’t be sad if you kiss her…” Barbara stated, rubbing the back of her neck a little at the awkward situation. It was a little weird to talk about Diana’s relationship, but in her state, they didn’t really have a choice. Yet it seemed like Diana didn’t trust them and didn’t feel better.  
  
“Why would she love me? It’s impossible… I mean, I keep hurting her, she couldn’t love me…”  
  
Hannah sighed heavily, so heavily that the sound of her sigh almost echoed in the room.  
  
“She must have felt happy during this moment, Diana gosh open your eyes a little! Did she broke the kiss?! I’m sure she didn’t. If she really hated it, I’m sure she would have pushed you away! She’s not the kind of girl to let people do anything with her and you know it better than everyone Diana, don’t you?” The auburn-haired girl was really angry, but mostly annoyed by the situation. She knew it was a little hard to confess her feelings, but Diana and Akko looked like they were blind and it annoyed her.  
  
Diana didn’t move at all. She was thinking about what Hannah said. She slowly remembered the kiss again. And yes, Akko didn’t push her away, she didn’t move her arms at all. And she remembered as well that the brunette kissed her back. And her crying face… she was blushing, and she had a little smile on her face… Thinking about all of this, Diana opened her eyes wider. She didn’t hurt her at all. It was in fact the opposite. And tears ran down Diana’s face when she finally noticed this, while she giggled a little. She was so relieved that she cried again, and she was happy that Akko loved it, even if it ended bad since Diana was wrong.  
  
“I’m so stupid sometimes, aren’t I?” She said, smiling at her friends who helped her again with her feelings, and the friends smiled back at her friend regaining her composure.   
  
“Honestly, yes you are Diana” Hannah stated without thinking twice, but she was grinning at the girl, and Barbara chuckled next to her girlfriend.  
  
Diana frowned a little as her friend said that so easily, but she giggled again with everyone. When they stopped laughing, she checked the clock to see if she could find Akko again, but it was already past curfew, and she let out a large sigh.  
  
“I wanted to apologize today but it seems like I won’t be able to…”  
  
“Well, you can still talk to her tomorrow don’t worry” Barbara said with a smile. She was overjoyed her friend was back again. But she noticed after some time that Diana was starting to smirk while looking at her, which made Barbara a little uneasy. “Yes?”  
  
“So~ it seems like I have a new couple as roommates~” Diana teased while chuckling a little, and the two girls flushed hard, not expecting Diana to be the one bringing the topic.  
  
“It- It was only the play! Are you teasing us now that’s your feeling better?!” Hannah exclaimed, but she wasn’t convincing at all, especially when Diana was her opponent.  
  
“You were really obvious Hannah you know? And yes I do.”  
  
Hannah flushed even more, and she looked away a little, but Barbara suddenly wrapped her arms around the girl’s waist and rested her head on her shoulder, making the auburn-haired girl jump a little from the surprise.   
  
“Ba-Barb?! H-Hey Diana is still here!”  
  
“Well~ she know everything so why should we hide~”  
  
“Yes go on~ I won’t bother you too much… as long as you don’t bother me~” Diana said while chuckling.   
  
“Diana!!” Hannah winced a little, not able to handle all the teasing from her friend, and she turned around to jump on Barbara and tickle her. The black-haired girl started to flail and struggle as she couldn’t handle the tickling.  
  
“St-Stop Hannah- ah! I- I’m sorry! I- stop ah!!”  
  
“Have fun lovebirds~ I’m going to sleep early today.” Diana started to walk toward her bedroom, but before she disappeared, she stared at them again to say one last thing.  
  
“Congratulations”  
  
She then completely disappeared in her bedroom as she put her pyjamas on and read a book until she fell asleep. The two girls were left on the bed, and they stared at each other blushing before they chuckled. At least Diana didn’t seem bothered with them being close, and it was good. But they promised before that they wouldn’t be too close in front of other people, not wanting to make them uneasy.  
  
“We should sleep as well…”   
  
“Yes…”  
  
And before they moved, they shared a little but passionate kiss together.

* * *

Akko slowly woke up while growling. She really hated waking up this early. ‘We should be able to sleep more come on!’ With her eyes still closed, she sat on the edge of her bed and yawned, stretching her arms above her head. She was really tired and wanted to go back to bed, it was without counting on Lotte that talked to her and prevented the brunette from going back to sleep.  
  
“Oh Akko, ready to talk to Diana?”  
  
The girl opened her eyes abruptly, remembering what happened last night. She wanted to talk to Diana. Her mind became clear as if she was awoken for some hours, and she jumped out of her bed, putting her clothes on quickly and preparing herself.  
  
“Yes and I need to hurry up!”  
  
Lotte chuckled at the view and helped Diana wearing her uniform since she was wearing it in a goofy way, making her look silly.   
  
“Honestly, she won’t disappear you know?”  
  
“Will it take that long to pull her by her collar and kiss her honestly?” Sucy grumbled as she stood up as well, not really enjoying the aura in the room during the morning. Akko flushed at the comment but frowned as well.  
  
“I won’t do this!” She said loudly before pouting a little and leaving the room. “See you later!”  
  
The brunette rushed toward the cafeteria, she hoped she could find the blonde girl she wanted to see. But when she arrived, the blonde girl was indeed here, but she wasn’t alone. Hannah and Barbara were sitting at the table as well and, even though they were chatting together next to each other, she couldn’t feel like talking to Diana about her feelings around people. So Akko only waved at the girls a little awkwardly when they noticed each other before she went to take her breakfast. After some minutes only, she came back and sat in front of Diana as usual, but the atmosphere between those two seemed really delicate. Even Hannah and Barbara started to chat less to watch over the two girls who were eating their breakfast silently, sometimes gazing at each other and blushing when their eyes met.  
  
Amanda and everyone else started to sit at the table as well, wondering why everyone was quiet.  
  
“Hey you’re very quiet for a double date!” Amanda said while chuckling, but Hannah nudged the girl really hard, making her gasp for air when she was hit. “Hey that hurts!” But the girl grabbed Amanda by the collar to whisper in her ear, not noticing the little jealous glare coming from her girlfriend.  
  
“Diana and Akko are still sorting things out, don’t say something strange or I’ll kill you. Understand?”  
  
The auburn-haired tone was so cold and curt that Amanda felt all her jokes fading away, as well as her voice disappearing. She just nodded to answer the girl, who released her when she had the answer, and Amanda sat again. The weird silence stayed for a moment before they started to chat together, trying to ignore the weird atmosphere around the two girls.  
  
At the end, none of the two girls could say a word to the other, the day started very well for them and Akko started to be a little more tensed, imagining situations that would probably never happen.  
  
And the rest of the day wasn’t good either. All day, they were surrounded with their friends so they couldn’t talk about it, and didn’t try to move away from the group since it would have been too embarrassing and obvious that something was happening. So they just kept the weird tension between them all day. However, during the classes, Akko kept gazing at Diana. She really found the woman beautiful, and she felt like she could notice things she didn’t before yesterday. Like how Diana’s eyelashes were beautiful, and how her lips were full that she couldn’t look away from them and remembered their kiss. She blushed slightly thinking about this, but she couldn’t look away from the blonde girl, until the teacher snapped her out of her musings to ask her a question that she, of course, couldn’t answer since she didn’t listen.   
  
When all the lessons were finally done, Akko rushed toward Diana, but some students already started to talk to her, which annoyed the brunette a little and she growled quietly.  
  
“Diana, I have some trouble with the new spell we learnt today, can you help me?”  
  
“Yes of course” Diana said, a faint smile on her face that only Akko noticed, which annoyed her more, but she didn’t say anything and just followed the two girls that walked outside to practice the spell. Though she kept a certain distance so as to not be seen by Diana.  
  
“You have to really focus on what you want, in fact it’s like most of the spell. I’m sure with hard work you will be able to do it. But if you need an example I can show it to you…”  
  
“Yes please!”  
  
Akko rolled her eyes, the girl annoyed her so much, but she couldn’t really stop Diana from helping someone else, since she was always helping her it would be unfair to the others. Diana showed the spell to the girl three or four times, before they finally split off. Akko smiled again and tried to rush toward Diana to talk to her, but this time, Finnelan asked Diana to help her with a little trouble. Akko followed them again, gritting her teeth angrily but still waiting for the right time. She couldn’t see what they were doing since they entered a classroom, but Akko waited outside, staring through the windows, bored.  
  
Diana finally walked out of the room, and Finnelan thanked her before she disappeared somewhere in the school. Akko didn’t care about the teacher so she didn’t know and didn’t want to know where she went. She walked toward Diana again, but this time two girls talked to her. It was too much for Akko and she kept walking toward Diana, chiming in the conversation.  
  
“Diana.”  
  
“Ye- What?!” Diana opened her eyes wide when Akko suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her, she seemed a little annoyed and Diana didn’t know what was happening, still shocked by the situation.  
  
“I need to talk to Diana sorry girls.”  
  
“What?!” the two girls almost shouted from surprise.  
  
But Akko didn’t listen to the girls talking, while Diana could only flash a little sorry smile to them before they disappeared in another hallway. Akko pulled Diana with her and took her wand in her other hand when they stopped in front of a locked door.  
  
“Akko what’s wrong with you?!”  
  
“Open sesame!”  
  
Click.  
  
Without listening to the blonde girl, Akko unlocked the door of the empty classroom and walked inside before she locked the door again.  
  
“Akko now answer me” Diana said, a little angrily with her cold glare since she really hated being pulled around without a reason.  
  
The brunette finally smiled a little at Diana and rubbed the back of her neck, feeling a little sorry about what happened.  
  
“Hehe sorry Diana… It’s just, everyone kept talking to you and I couldn’t even say something to you… I… Actually I wanted to talk to you since yesterday… About… you know…”  
  
Akko slowly blushed while talking, and Diana suddenly flushed as well. She knew well what Atsuko wanted to talk about. Mostly about the kiss she supposed, and she felt a little tensed while looking away. She couldn’t watch Akko in the eyes during this sort of conversation.  
  
“Well… I suppose yes… Actually I also wanted to talk to you… And apologize for misunderstanding things…”  
  
The girl opened her eyes wider when Diana apologized. She wasn’t expecting this, at least not that quick. She thought she would have to talk a little before Diana would, but it wasn’t bad that the girl apologized, like that she could do as well.  
  
“No… I also apologize… I didn’t make it clear for you after all…”  
  
“You did nothing wrong Akko!” Diana exclaimed, finally staring back at the brunette. “I was the one who didn’t think at least one second!”  
  
“Yes but I should have shown it better that I… enjoyed it…” Akko’s voice faded away during talking, but she shook her head quickly to calm her mind. “But may I ask you something to be sure?”  
  
Diana raised an eyebrow, but she tried to remain calm and accepted. She didn’t have anything to hide after all. “Go on.”  
  
“Did you kiss me because you love me?”  
  
‘Okay I didn’t expect this question…’ Diana blushed heavily and she felt her heartbeat quickening. She was lost. Her words were still stuck in her dry throat. She opened her mouth and closed it without being able to make any sound. She started to chew her bottom lip to give her the will to talk, but even with a hard fight, she couldn’t. Why couldn’t she say those only three words: ‘I love you’. Her heart was aching at her helplessness, and she finally nodded only, at least she could answer like this. But she felt sad not being able to do what she wanted to, on the verge of tears. Was she afraid of Akko not returning her feelings…? Maybe yes… But when Akko noticed the nod, she grinned and walked closer, wrapping her arms around the sad blonde girl and pulling her against her, although she was blushing hard.  
  
“I love you too…”  
  
Those four words were enough to break Diana’s last walls around her heart, and she cried from happiness, slowly wrapping her arms around the brunette. Her heart was tightening from happiness while feeling warm. She’d never felt so happy to hear words from someone. All the weight on her shoulders disappeared, and finally, she was able to say the words she wanted to say so badly.  
  
“I love you Akko…”  
  
Akko was so happy she couldn’t help but grin. She closed her eyes a little and just enjoyed the warmth of the woman. She also noticed the girl was smelling like flowers. It smelled good, another thing she fell in love with coming from Diana. After some time, she opened her eyes again and gazed into the ice-blue eyes of the blonde girl. Staring very intensely while she raised her head a little, trying to come closer to the girl’s face. And Diana was also lowering her head very slowly, staring back into the crimson-red eyes. She felt as if their lips were attracted to each other, and then, they were pressed against each other. The two girls fluttered her eyelids shut, enjoying the passionate and loving kiss. It wasn’t a surprise kiss like the last one, it was a kiss they both wanted to. And honestly, it felt much better than the previous one. The warmth coming from Akko’s lips surprised a little Diana who wrapped her arms around the girl’s waist, pulling her closer to kiss her more passionately. Akko, meanwhile, wrapped her arms around the woman’s neck, holding her close to her. She felt like she was melting against those lips, it was so wonderful, and they tasted so good she couldn’t stop. They shared this intimate moment for as long as they could. It was magic, even more than real magic actually. And they sadly broke the kiss when they had to catch their breath, panting a little as they rested their forehead against each other, staring deeply into each other’s eyes.  
  
“It felt better than I expected hehe” Said Akko, giggling a little with her cheeks red. And Diana smiled back at the woman, still holding her close.  
  
“And you’re a better kisser than I expected, Miss Kagari.” She said while grinning.  
  
“Oh? Then would Miss Cavendish like to be kissed again by the wonderful kisser~?” She smirked as she teased the girl, and Diana blushed slightly but whispered to the girl.   
  
“Yes of course…”  
  
Akko began to move toward the girl’s lips again, but instead of kissing, she only brushed her lips against Diana’s and slid them toward the girl’s ear, making the girl moan slightly from surprise.  
  
“Diana, be my girlfriend…”  
  
The words made the blonde girl flush and jump from surprise, not expecting this sort of thing from Akko, but she finally smiled and leaned toward the girl’s ear to whisper into it.  
  
“Of course, I wouldn’t share a kiss like this with someone other than my girlfriend after all…”  
  
And after they both blushed, they kissed again for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally they are girlfriends! But it's only the beginning I hope! I already have some ideas for at least 3 or 4 chapters, and I can promise you they will be sweet~ thank you all for the support and all the comments, it always makes me smile to read them!!


	7. Love challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akko and Diana are finally dating! What are they doing to do now?

Akko still couldn’t believe it. She was dating Diana. It was like a dream. She couldn’t stop grinning since yesterday after she and Diana left the room. She could still feel the warm lips of her girlfriend on her own when she thought about it. It was so wonderful. She wanted to do it again all day and every day. But it was a bit difficult since they had to sleep, and lessons… Oh yes she was in the middle of the history lesson. But it wasn’t interesting at all. She loved staring at Diana more, it was as if she was in their own world together. And gosh Diana was so beautiful it was almost a crime, should Akko put her in jail? Just thinking about it made her giggle a little, which annoyed the teacher.  
  
“Atsuko Kagari! Pay attention in class!”  
  
“Ah! Yes!” She said, blushing slightly from embarrassment. But of course, she didn’t pay more attention and stared at Diana again. She really wanted to hug the blonde girl, and feel her warmth in her arms while smelling the flower flagrance. Thinking about this, she was wondering if it was the girl’s perfume, or her soap? She should ask her next time she had the opportunity. Diana also had an elegant frame, making the brunette want to hug her even more. ‘Aaaah it’s too hard to focus on the lesson with a beauty like her in the same room honestly!’ Akko thought while she scratched her hair, though she tried not to move a lot, she didn’t want to catch the teacher’s attention again.  
  
Amanda suddenly poked Akko’s shoulder from behind and whispered in the girl’s ear, her voice seemed a little playful.  
  
“Enjoying staring at your wife Akko?”  
  
The comment made the girl flush heavily and she suddenly turned away. She frowned at Amanda and pouted, showing to the girl that she was angry toward her. But seeing Akko like this only made Amanda snort as she tried not to laugh loudly. Fortunately, the lesson stopped just after that, and the girls started to fight a little louder since the teacher wasn’t here to stop them this time.  
  
“Seriously Amanda! You talk a lot but you’re the one staring at…”  
  
“At?” Amanda replied, chuckling and raising an eyebrow as she waited for an answer she knew wouldn’t come. It was so entertaining to tease Akko she was glad the brunette was her friend. Yet, before Akko could say something again, Diana chimed in.  
  
“Stop it you two, you’re bothering everyone.” She exclaimed while she gazed coldly at Amanda, she knew the girl was the one who started it. She was always the one starting those quarrels.   
  
“Okay okay…” Amanda replied, rubbing the back of her neck. A cold and angry Diana wasn’t fun to deal with. “Let’s eat lunch then.”  
  
Amanda stood up and walked out of the room with Constanze and Jasminka following her. They chatted together on their way to the cafeteria. Lotte and Sucy went with Hannah and Barbara just after the green team. They grew much closer after the play. Akko and Diana were the last one leaving the classroom, chatting together happily. Akko stared at Diana’s hand sometimes as she wanted to hold it, but she knew it would be a little weird to do that in public, at least she thought it would. She didn’t want to tell everyone about her relationship with the blonde girl, especially because she didn’t want to ruin the girl’s life… She knew Diana worked hard to be acknowledged by everyone. A romance between two girls was mostly cute when it wasn’t real for people… At least she was glad her close friends weren’t against this.  
  
They quickly arrived to the cafeteria. It wasn’t really far from the classroom, and when they had their plates, everyone sat at their usual table. While eating, Akko and Diana gazed a lot at each other, goofy smile on their face. The atmosphere between the two girls was really different from the usual one, especially with the last weeks where the mood wasn’t good between them. Amanda was the one who noticed it first, she had a good eye for this sort of thing. And she couldn’t help herself but comment this again.  
  
“Akko you’re going to dig a hole in Diana’s eyes if you gaze at your girlfriend like this.”  
  
The comment made Akko chock on her food and she started to cough, while Diana’s food almost went down the wrong way. Weirdly, they reacted differently than usual, not knowing what to comment after this was real between them. Amanda noticed it and was a little surprised that Diana wasn’t glaring at her with those cold blue eyes, and it was Akko who talked first this time, pouting heavily and crossing her arms.  
  
“Hmpf, you’re just jealous cause you don’t have a girlfriend!”  
  
Everyone was speechless, even Diana since Akko stated that she was really her girlfriend when she said it like this, and the blonde girl couldn’t help but sigh awkwardly while pinching the bridge of her nose. Amanda, meanwhile, started to chuckle and smirked, which also surprised everyone. Everything was unusual today.  
  
“Well, too bad that I already have one.”  
  
“What?!” Everyone shouted and opened their eyes wider from the shock, except the three girls of the green team since they knew it.   
  
“Who is it?!” Hannah asked loudly, making people sitting at the other tables looking at her. But she didn’t care about them and only wanted to know who could support Amanda with her horrible personality.  
  
“It’s Constanze” the Stanbot sitting on the little girl’s lap stated while the girl was still eating without really caring about the situation. Albeit her cheeks were red blushing.  
  
“Oh…” everyone said again. They were still surprised, so shocked that they didn’t know how to react when the two girls outed themselves so easily.  
  
“Well… Congratulations I suppose” Lotte said, trying to ease the mood of the group, and Amanda chuckled when looking at her friends’ face.  
  
“So Akko~ anything to say~?”  
  
“Sh-Shut up…” Akko answered, blushing heavily and just pouting while eating again. For some minutes, nobody dared talking. Hannah chatted with Barbara quietly at first, and then everyone resumed their usual chat. Diana and Akko just kept staring at each other from time to time, blushing and looking away when their eyes met.

 

The afternoon lessons were as boring as the morning lessons for Akko as she did the same thing as she did the morning. Meanwhile, Diana didn’t really know her girlfriend was gazing at her, still listening seriously at the teachers and taking notes. She had already learnt the topic of those lessons, but she may learn details that she didn’t know before, that’s why she listened to them really carefully. Sometimes, her mind would drift away thinking about Akko, but she quickly chased those thoughts. She needed to be the top student, she couldn’t think about what would happen if she breaks people’s expectation, especially what would happen to Akko…  
  
“Oh it’s already the end… Well, don’t forget to study for tomorrow’s test!” The teacher said before she left the room, leaving the students alone in the classroom. Diana sighed a little. All those lessons were a little tiring, even though she knew everything already, she still had to stay concentrated all day, and finally being done with those were relaxing. Yet, two students walked toward her to ask her a question about the lesson they just had. She couldn’t reject them, they were also working hard after all. Moreover, she was also happy she could help people around her. So she decided to answer their questions. Yet, she could still feel an intense gaze on her, and she knew more or less it was Akko. ‘What is she doing…’  
  
Akko was jealous. Of course she would be, her girlfriend was, again, talking with others all the time. She wanted to spend time with her as well. She was ready to rush to the blonde girl to talk with her when the lesson was done, but people just came talking to her before she could. Akko just glared at them while frowning and pouting, though she stayed sitting, her elbow resting on the table with her head resting in her raised hand. She waited for as long as it could take, not wanting to leave without Diana, she didn’t have anything to do after all. Everyone left as soon as the lesson was done. It was usually like this, they stayed together for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but after school, everyone was busy doing something. Sucy was busy with her potions, well it didn’t change from the other time of the day for her. Lotte was either talking to Barbara with Hannah just hanging out with them, or studying. And when Barbara wasn’t chatting with Lotte, she was at the library or in her bedroom to study with Hannah. For Akko, she was mostly spending her time with Diana, hanging around with her, though they mostly studied together. But right now, she couldn’t since other students were asking her for help. Of course she couldn’t really be selfish and take Diana all for herself, even though she wanted to. Diana was the type of girl to help everyone in need, and Akko knew it. After all, Diana helped her a lot.  
  
But it was a bit too long, more people were coming in the middle of the explanations while some of them left as well, and there was always at least one girl with Diana. Akko started to be a little bored and fed up with that. She stood up and walked toward Diana to chime in the conversation.  
  
“And this is the most important part-”  
  
“Can you teach me as well Diana?” Akko asked, a little smirk on her face as she sat next to the girl. The other girls were always standing in front of her so she was the only one sitting with Diana. The blonde girl tried to keep her composure with Akko barging in.  
  
“Of course?” She answered, a little surprised by what just happened though and her voice was one octave higher. Everyone stopped talking to look at the two girls.  
  
“Good! Then come!” She said, standing up again and grabbing Diana’s hand to pull her out of the classroom, giggling on the way.  
  
“Wait Akko I was-”  
  
“It’s good Diana, you taught us enough, go!” One of the students says, smiling at Diana. When the girls were too far to listen to them, the three girls started to chat a little together.  
  
“Do you think… they are together?”  
  
“Wait, aren’t they together since they were paired for the festival?”  
  
“You think so? I think it was something more recent…”  
  
“What are you talking about? Between two girls? Isn’t it weird?”  
  
“What do you mean? Gender doesn’t matter, does it?”  
  
“It’s… well let’s not talk about this. I need to study, see you.”

* * *

 

Akko kept pulling Diana a little, but she released her after some steps outside of the classroom, noticing she was selfish again and she let Diana’s arm go, stopping moving at the same time as she stared at the ground guilty.   
  
“Sorry…”  
  
Diana sighed a little, and stared at Akko with her arms crossed. But some students stopped so as to stare at the two girls. She wanted to say something to Akko, but with people around, it was a little more complicated and she grabbed Akko by her hand, this time leading her to her bedroom.  
  
“Let’s study in my room.”  
  
Akko just nodded and stared at Diana from behind while she was dragged. She didn’t say anything though. She kept feeling guilty from being selfish and jealous like this, but she didn’t regret pulling Diana the day before, nor this day. She really wanted to spend time with her, and with everyone talking to Diana at school it was too hard. She couldn’t stay quiet without trying to do something.  
  
After some minutes, they finally arrived in Diana’s bedroom, and to Diana’s surprise, Hannah and Barbara weren’t inside. Maybe they were with the other red team’s members. But it was a good opportunity that she took to talk to Akko clearly. She closed the door and then stared at Akko while crossing her arms again.  
  
“Akko, what’s wrong with you? Between yesterday and today…”  
  
Akko shifted on her feet and looked away a little while rubbing the back of her neck. She tried to think about something she could make up to tell Diana, too embarrassed to tell her she was jealous.  
  
“I just… needed some help to study!”  
  
Diana frowned a little and sighed, noticing that Akko was lying.  
  
“Good job, but the truth this time? You really are a bad liar…”  
  
Akko opened her eyes a little wider, but she knew Diana was smart so she wasn’t surprised a lot to see that the blonde girl saw through her lie. She sighed again, not really prepared to tell the truth but she didn’t know what else she could do.  
  
“Well, I was… jealous?” She finally stated, blushing heavily while admitting her feelings. And Diana was taken aback by the confession. She didn’t think Akko could be like this, but it made her giggle a little and walks toward Akko.  
  
“You were jealous~? Then…” She leant a little and gave a little yet passionate kiss to her girlfriend, who opened her eyes a little more from surprise before she grinned and kissed back until Diana broke the kiss. “Are you still jealous now?”  
  
Akko giggled while grinning and jumped into Diana’s arms to hug her tightly, feeling so happy with the girl in front of her that she still thought she was dreaming.  
  
“I’m good now~ I love you Diana!”  
  
“I- I love you too” Diana answered, flushing a little, still embarrassed to say this. She then cleared her throat a little to take Akko’s attention while she was still blushing.  
  
“We should… Work then, you told me you wanted to study after all, didn’t you~?” She smirked slightly as she teased her girlfriend a bit. She started to enjoy teasing Akko, and she could know why Amanda loved this as well.  
  
“Y-Yes but… Can’t we just stay together like this?” The brunette asked, not really wanting to work since she only said this to take Diana with her.  
  
Diana giggled a little and kissed Akko’s forehead, feeling really silly with Akko like this, but she was so cute. She even lost herself in the girl’s eyes for a moment, just gazing at them while smiling. But she also thought about something fun to do while still working, it would certainly motivate Akko to work as well. She knew the girl was always into challenges and all.  
  
“Oh but, why don’t we play a little game while studying then?”  
  
Atsuko raised an eyebrow a little while she was staring back into Diana’s eyes, a bit curious about the game the blonde was talking about. It wasn’t like her to do games after all.  
  
“A game?”  
  
“Yes, let’s say we both work on a question, and the one with a right answer can ask the other a question about anything they want? And if we both have the good answer, the first one to finish answering the question win, what do you think?”  
  
Akko pondered a little, it seemed to be a nice game, and after thinking a little about it, she smirked. She could finally challenge Diana again, she waited for this and chuckled a bit at the idea.  
  
“Okay let’s do this! I won’t lose Diana!”  
  
Diana smiled warmly at the now decided girl, and walked inside the bedroom to sit at the table.   
  
“Let’s see if you can beat me then~”  
  
She liked how Akko could be determinate like this for challenges, especially against her, and she was ready to fight back. It was fun to spend some time with her girlfriend like this, and she hoped it wouldn’t end. When Akko sat around the table, the blonde girl took a book out of her bag and put it in the centre of the table. It was their usual textbook. She didn’t really look into it that much, enjoying looking at higher level textbooks she could find at the library. But Akko may not be able to understand everything from the library book, and their usual textbook was far enough to learn everything for the tests.  
  
“So, let’s study history today. We will do the questions in the order. Is that good for you?”  
  
Akko made a face a little, not enjoying history at all. It was almost her worst subject. But she couldn’t give up the challenge without trying, she wanted to beat Diana after all, so she nodded with a serious and determined face.  
  
“Yes. And I’m ready whenever you want, I’m going to win!”  
  
“We will see~” Diana said while chuckling, and opened the book. She read the first question aloud, and then they both started to write the answer they thought was right. Akko tried to do her best to find the answer, but Diana was faster. And she also had a wrong answer…  
  
“Gaaa I lost this one… But I won’t lose the other one!” She said, a lopsided smile on her face. “Now ask your question, I’ll try to answer.”  
  
Diana smirked a little, and didn’t think too long to ask her question, she had already prepared some of them before they started. They were questions she had planned to ask the girl sooner or later after all.  
  
“So, my first question is, what do you love about me?”  
  
Akko opened her eyes wider, very surprised by the question. She wasn’t expecting a personal question like this, and it made her blush slightly.  
  
“I…” She took a breath but she blushed even more, just thinking about the answer. “Honestly, I love everything about you. But I think I’m in love with the way you’re always helping other a lot. I- I also love your eyes… I’m crazy in love with them, when I look in them, I lost myself… and I love your smile… And your lips… And your pale yet soft and warm skin… And I’m also fond of your beautiful hair. Do- Do you want me to continue?”  
  
Diana blushed more and more each time Akko added something. She had trouble to handle the compliments after some of them, so when the brunette asked to continue, she slowly shook her head with her blushing face.  
  
“N-No it’s good… Let’s do the next question…”  
  
Akko looked at the question, but chuckled and smirked when she saw it. She wrote the answer as fast as she could, proud that she knew at least one answer, and stared at the blonde girl in front of her who finished writing a little later than Akko. And the brunette was right for this one, she stood up and raised both her arms above her head to shout her victory.  
  
“Yatta!!! I did it!”  
  
Diana could only giggle in front of her overjoyed girlfriend, she was really cute when she was like this. Well, she was always cute after all. Akko sat back after some seconds and pondered a bit, thinking about the question she could ask her girlfriend. It was hard to think about one. But after a moment, she finally found one and smirked at Diana, which made the blonde girl smile back without even being afraid.  
  
“So! My question! Which one of my body parts makes you crazy toward me~?”  
  
Diana giggled at the question, and even blushed slightly at the words Akko used. It was a little embarrassing, but she knew without even thinking what was her answer. She had stared a lot at her girlfriend, but there was one thing she couldn’t get bored with.  
  
“Your crimson-red eyes. I could stare at them for decades without being bored… Like now for instance…” She said, smiling teasingly while she stared into Akko’s eyes, making the brunette blush heavily. And after some seconds, she finally took her pen again.  
  
“Now next question~ and this time I won’t lose.”  
  
“I won’t either!”  
  
The two girls were determined to win against the other. A sort of tension could be felt between them, but they still smiled at each other when their eyes met. This time, Diana won again and pondered a little at the question she could ask.  
  
“Hmm… Something unexpected that you like about me?”  
  
Akko was a little surprised again by the question. Diana seemed to ask a lot of embarrassing ones, but it was also fun to answer them, even though it was a little embarrassing.  
  
“Let’s see…” The brunette pondered a little, not sure about what to answer. She loved everything about Diana, but something unexpected… maybe… “Maybe your flagrance, you smell like flowers when I hug you and I love it…”   
  
Both the girls flushed at the comment, Akko because she was embarrassed to say this, and Diana because she was a little surprised and embarrassed by the unexpected answer. However, she was happy to learn about Akko’s likes, and smiled as well.  
  
“I see… Nobody has ever told me this it’s kind of surprising…” She chuckled and turned a page of the book, staring at Akko again to see if she was ready. For this question, Diana also won, she knew the lesson well so it wasn’t hard for her, but Akko get the right answer as well after thinking so she was happy.   
  
“When did you notice you were in love with me?”  
  
Akko froze a little at the question, not expecting this one at all. The answer was far more embarrassing than the previous ones, so she couldn’t really answer it.  
  
“Do I have to answer…?”  
  
Diana, with a broad smile on her face, nodded. “Yes”  
  
“Err… after you kissed me… I talked with Lotte and well, after the chat I knew I was in love…”  
  
“Oh” Diana opened her eyes a little, it seemed like Akko was also helped by her friends to know about her feelings. She giggled since it was a similar situation to hers. “It was more or less the same for me so I can understand… Now next question!”  
  
Akko was happy Diana didn’t ask more details each time she answered, it was too awkward to speak more about those things. This time, she finally won again and was so overjoyed she threw her arms again above her head, which made the blonde girl chuckle again. Then, she asked her question.  
  
“My turn finally! So… what’s your biggest fear for our relationship?”  
  
This time, it was Diana who stopped moving, because she was afraid to tell Akko about her fears. Of course she trusted her girlfriend, but she was afraid that the brunette couldn’t handle her fears if they came true. Yet, the girl answered Diana’s question honestly, so she couldn’t lie and answered honestly as well, even though she was a little sad to answer and looked at the ground.  
  
“I… I’m afraid people would hurt you because of my reputation… and because we are both girls…”  
  
Akko frowned a little at the answer, it annoyed her a little. Of course Diana could be scared about this, but it hurt her a little because it felt like the blonde girl thought Atsuko couldn’t protect herself. She stood up to sit next to her girlfriend, holding her hand to comfort her a little. Albeit she seemed still annoyed.  
  
“Diana, I can protect myself. Besides, I’m sure if that happen, you won’t stay quiet about this. We are together, and if that happen, we will face this together.”  
  
Diana smiled warmly at Akko who eased her pain. She wrapped her arms around the brunette’s neck and pulled her closer. She could feel her eyes moistening with her relief and she was too shy to show her girlfriend those tears, so she hugged her.  
  
“Thank you Akko… I honestly don’t deserve someone as wonderful as you, but I’ll gladly accept having you by my sides…”  
  
“And I’ll always be by your sides as well…”  
  
Akko moved away from the hug and gave a little peck on Diana’s lips, with her arms still wrapped around the girl’s back.  
  
“Let’s do a last question” Diana said as she turned a page of the book again. They were still next to each other when they answered the question, but Akko couldn’t find the answer, and after some minutes, she gave up. Diana stared at her girlfriend thinking about the answer all the time. She answered quickly after all, but it was cute to see Akko struggling to find an answer even if she had already lost.  
  
“You lose again~ You still need to study more Akko.”  
  
Akko pouted and sighed heavily while she frowned.   
  
“Hey! Next time I will win this!”  
  
“Sure sure~ but I won’t lose either you know. Even if you’re my precious girlfriend, I won’t let you win without a fight~”  
  
“Pfft sweet talking won’t work!” Akko answered, though she was blushing hard.  
  
“Oh really? Then let’s me ask you the question…” She said while leaning closer to the girl’s eyes, gazing at those crimson-red gemstones. She knew Akko was embarrassed after what she said, and she smirked a little when her nose was almost touching Akko’s. “What do you prefer between me kissing you and you kissing me?”  
  
Akko jumped a little from the question, and her whole cheeks turned red, with her ears. She really couldn’t answer the question, especially since she knew she loved it more when Diana was teasing her like this and was assertive. But it seemed that Diana knew the answer of the question with the lopsided grin she had on her face.  
  
“I don’t need your answer though…” She said before she leant even closer, her lips approaching Akko’s. But when their lips brushed against each other, the door of the bedroom suddenly opened. The two girls abruptly jumped away from each other, flushing heavily as they were almost caught kissing. Hannah and Barbara entered the room, but stopped in front of the two girls who seemed to be red blushing. Barbara was the first one who guessed what was happening and smirked while chuckling.   
  
“Seems like we interrupted something between those two~”  
  
“Oh” Hannah answered, but smirking as well after her girlfriend was done talking. “Should we leave you alone again~?”  
  
“N-No, it’s time for dinner. Let’s go.” Diana said as she stood up, but she walked faster than usual to leave the room, her face still red blushing, and Akko followed her from behind.  
  
“I’m sure they were kissing” said Barbara while grinning.  
  
“They are so cute together gosh”  
  
“Yes… Let’s follow them? I’m starting to be hungry after all.”  
  
Hannah nodded, and the two girls caught up with their friends before they all meet at the cafeteria to eat dinner.

* * *

 

Akko and Diana decided to spend some time outside after dinner. They were hanging out around the place where Akko used to train for the festival. This time, the two girls were sitting on the bench, next to each other with their fingers intertwined. Nobody was here around that time so they were free to be close like this. It was a really warm moment, they felt like they were alone in the world. Akko was resting her head on Diana’s shoulder, but sometimes she moved her head a little to stare at Diana’s face. She was really beautiful and Akko felt so lucky to be able to be close to her like this.  
  
Diana was the first who broke the silence between them. She was looking at the star and remembered everything that happened with the Claiomh Solais, or better known with the name Shiny Rod thanks to Akko, and the seven stars. They went into a lot of things, especially Akko who awakened all the seven words. And now it was done, they restored the Yggdrasil, and magic could be used all around the world again. The Sorcerer’s stone slowly became useless for Witches, but Luna Nova kept their in case it was needed again. Diana was overjoyed to be able to stay with Akko. She’d never thought she would fall in love with her, especially at first, but now she was here with her girlfriend. They prepared the festival together, and they started dating. The start of their second year was crazy, but soon they would have the half-term break. Diana was both relieved to have a little break, but she was also sad because she didn’t know if she would be able to spend this time with her girlfriend…  
  
“Hey Akko…”  
  
“Hm?” The girl turned her head at her girlfriend again, and raised an eyebrow slightly while looking at Diana quizzically.  
  
“What have you planned to do next week? For the half-term break…”  
  
“Well…” Akko looked around a little before she stared at the stars like Diana. “I wanted to go back to Japan a little to spend time with my parents for my birthday, but I don’t have enough money for the plane, and going by broom is a bit crazy with my current skills… Though I did think about it at some point.”  
  
“Oh…” Diana was a little sad that Akko couldn’t be with her family when she had one caring about her. It hurt her since she didn’t have a close family, only her aunt Daryl. But she learnt something else that was really important, and she suddenly opened her eyes wider and looked at Akko. “Wait, when is your birthday?”  
  
“Hm? June 25th why?” Akko answered without even thinking, it was weird that Diana suddenly asked about her birthday.  
  
“Oh I see…” Diana kept in mind this important information. She would have to do something for her girlfriend’s birthday after all. But she changed the topic of the discussion, not wanting to raise Atsuko’s suspicion.  
  
“Then you’re going to stay here for the next two weeks?”  
  
Akko sighed at just the thought and slouched on the bench, a bit depressed to stay here without being able to move a lot. She could at least go to town with her broom, she wasn’t that bad after all, but still it was a little depressing.  
  
“Yes… Aaah I don’t want! It’s gonna be so depressing!”  
  
Diana pondered a little. She planned to go back to her home during the first week to talk about the family with her aunt. After the event during the ceremony she failed, she was a little closer to her aunt, and they sometimes chatted about the future of their family since Diana would be the next head of the family, after she graduated from Luna Nova. Maybe Akko could come with her… Daryl knew a little about the brunette since she invited herself to their house. Just thinking about it made Diana chuckle but sigh at the same time. She didn’t want to forget that day though, the day Diana made her smile for the first time…  
  
“Maybe… It’s not official but I’m planning to go back home the first week… Would you like to come with me?”  
  
“What?!” Akko exclaimed at first, surprised by the sudden offer. But she then pondered about it a little and cleared her throat. “I mean… Are you sure about this? Last time I come you weren’t really happy, well nobody was haha…”  
  
“Well, last time you weren’t really invited. This time you are, aren’t you? And you’re someone special for me, I won’t allow anyone to badmouth you again…” She said as she tightened her fingers on the girl’s hand a little, making sure not to hurt her though. And Akko smiled at the blonde girl while tightening back. She wasn’t against spending time with Diana. Actually, she was so happy she could spend her break with her, and even if she was a little sad not to be able to spend time with her family, being with Diana was making her overjoyed. She grinned warmly and finally nodded.  
  
“Then I’ll come!”  
  
“Good” Diana answered, grinning back. She was also joyful to spend her time with Akko, she was worried she wouldn’t be able to after all. And she wouldn’t miss Akko’s birthday. It was the second week of the break, so they would have both came back here… She would have to see with everyone if they were available to prepare a surprise party for the brunette…  
  
Suddenly though, Akko pulled Diana a little to whisper into her ear, flushing heavily as she talked… She wanted to continue what happened in the room. She didn’t want to say it aloud, but she was actually missing Diana’s lips on her own. It was far more addictive than she thought it would be. Maybe because it was Diana…  
  
“Let’s continue what we were doing before…”  
  
Diana raised an eyebrow at first, not knowing what Akko meant. But when she thought a little, she suddenly blushed before she smirked slightly. Actually, she was also starting to love the taste of Akko’s lips, and their warmth.  
  
“Akko… Aren’t you a little too clingy~?”  
  
“Wha- No I- hm!” She was about to complain and pout, but her lips were sealed by Diana’s, and after her surprise disappeared, she closed her eyes and kissed back. She pushed her lips a little more against Diana’s to taste them fully, and her arms found themselves around the girl’s neck again. One of her hands was slowly sliding into Diana’s hair. At the same time, the blonde girl leant a little more against the kiss as well, and trapped Akko’s bottom lip between hers a little, making the brunette let out a small moan of surprise and pleasure. One of Diana’s hand caressed the girl’s cheek during the kiss. It was warm, and her heartbeat quickened really fast while her cheeks were red blushing. She was also panting a little through her nose, not wanting to break the kiss until the last moment. Akko felt the same, she felt her heart tightening from pleasure while beating fast. She breathed through her nose, sometimes gasping slightly from her mouth when the contact was broken for a second. She felt like she was melting, especially with Diana so close to her. She could smell the flower perfume from the girl when she was this close, and it always made her feel better. When they were finally at their limit, they broke the kiss and panted heavily to catch their breath, looking at each other in the eyes. Akko felt her heart beating faster when Diana was assertive like this, it was a whole new world to her, her first relationship with someone, especially a girl. But it felt so wonderful…  
  
“I love you…” Akko said, leaning closer when she caught her breath to kiss again.  
  
“I love you too Atsuko…” Diana said before she kissed again. And they kept kissing until it was almost time for the curfew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the support~ this chapter was fun to write! And I think I really love writing kisses, it's so sweet! And I'm so in love with Diana and Akko~ I'm glad everyone loves what I'm writing, thank you so much <3 and I take this opportunity to say that I can't really find a good plot behind this fanfic so I think it's going to have a lot of cute things without serious stuff, but I already have an idea for another fanfic with far more serious and dramatic stuff! I don't know if I will write it at the same time that this one though, I want to stay concentrated on one Diakko fic at the same time~ 
> 
> Have a wonderful day and see you at the next chapter. It's going to be a little smaller one, but it is going to prepare the chapter after it so stay ready! <3


	8. A new place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana and Akko can't really find some private time together, always bothered by someone. Until Akko proposes a little challenge...

Akko and Diana were outside again, like yesterday. It was Wednesday, and they still had two days left before the break. However, they didn’t spend a lot of time this day as well, like the two previous days. Akko was still jealous, and she had to pull Diana out of the classroom again, in front of everyone. She didn’t care when she first did it, but it was the third time in a row. It started to be really awkward to pull Diana out of the room so suddenly, and she knew she couldn’t do this every day. People were already talking about them a little, and she didn’t want the truth to be known. Well, she wanted everyone to know Diana was hers, but Diana seemed to still be afraid of people’s thoughts. Akko understood her worries and didn’t say anything else, and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t worried. The brunette was holding Diana’s hand but she broke the silence between them soon after.  
  
“It’s hard to find some time alone…”  
  
Diana sighed after Akko talked. It sure was hard to find some time to relax with Akko. When it wasn’t her classmates asking for help, it was Hannah and Barbara in the bedroom. Of course she couldn’t really push away her roommates, it was their bedroom as well after all. She also enjoyed helping her classmates. However, it was too much. She could only relax after the dinner like this with Akko, and even so it was a little hard because they were in a public area, so everyone could see them.  
  
“Yes…” Diana answered, still looking at the stars above her head. “Maybe we should find a private place…”  
  
“Oooh!”  
  
Akko opened her eyes wider from the revelation. She started to be excited about sharing a private place with Diana, that only them would know about. It was something so wonderful. She stood up excited and grabbed both Diana’s hands, making the blonde girl very surprised suddenly, and a little confused.  
  
“Akko?”  
  
“Let’s find a place for us!”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
Akko was grinning broadly and didn’t let go of Diana’s hand, waiting for the girl to talk again and give her an answer. She didn’t know where they could find a place, but she was already looking forward to spending time with Diana there. The blonde girl finally sighed a little when she knew Akko wouldn’t talk more.  
  
“Well, let’s find a place then…”  
  
Diana stood up slowly and wrapped her arms around Akko’s waist, pulling her into a hug for a moment. She just wanted to relax a little more in Akko’s arms. The brunette was a little taken aback by the sudden move, but she wrapped her arms around Diana’s back to hug her back. They stayed like this for a moment, without even thinking about anything other than the other one in their arms. Diana rested her head on Akko’s shoulder, and she could smell vanilla. She was a little surprised. She’d never really tried to notice this before, but it was a good flagrance coming from Akko, and it made her even more relaxed. After a moment though, Akko jumped a little and opened her eyes wider. She was thinking about the place, and she thought about a little something that could spice things up with Diana.  
  
“Hey Diana…”  
  
“Yes?” The blonde girl answered, her eyes still closed as she was still hugging her girlfriend.  
  
“Let’s see who is going to find a place first, you know, a little challenge.”  
  
Diana wasn’t really surprised Akko proposed a challenge again. She even giggled a little at the idea. It could be really fun to compete against Akko again, it was always fun after all.  
  
“Let’s do this then. And the loser can do one thing the winner want?”  
  
Akko pondered a little at the new idea, but it didn’t take a lot of time for her to find it nice and she accepted.  
  
“Don’t complain if I order you to do something too hard then~”  
  
“Oh, I’m waiting for this Atsuko Kagari.” Diana said while smirking, and then she leaned to kiss her girlfriend as passionately as usual, rubbing her thumbs on the woman’s cheeks at the same time. Akko gladly kissed back, with her eyelids fluttering close and her cheeks turning red more and more.  
  
After some seconds, they stopped kissing, but stayed close to each other and looked at one another in the eyes.  
  
“Hmm, so let’s say we have tomorrow to find a place, before dinner if possible. Like this we can clean it after dinner. Is this good for you?” Diana proposed, already thinking about everything. They wouldn’t stay at school for so long, only having two days left before they would leave for Diana’s place and she wanted to relax in their future room a little before.  
  
Akko nodded before she nuzzled Diana’s neck. She felt so comfortable with her girlfriend, and she didn’t want to leave her, even for classes or sleeping. Her act of affection made the blonde girl blush a little, but she smiled warmly and gently stroked her girlfriend’s back.  
  
After some more time, it was almost curfew, and they had to leave each other to go back to their room. Without even knowing about what the other one was thinking, they both wanted to get up earlier than usual tomorrow to find the room as soon as possible. So they both went to bed as soon as they were back in their room.  
  
As they planned, the two girls woke up earlier than usual. They decided to at least check around the school for any free room they could use. Yet they didn’t have a lot of time so they only checked quickly, and they didn’t find anything good enough. Most of the rooms were used from time to time, so they couldn’t stay hidden or decorate it as they wished.  
  
Akko tried to think about a nice idea during the lessons, but she couldn’t find one. It was too hard to find a good place. When lessons were over, she decided to look around the school again. She mostly spent her time around empty classrooms and old places used to store records.  
  
“Gosh I really can’t find anything…”  
  
She entered another locked room that she unlocked with a spell, but when she entered, it was filled with bookshelves covered in dust. She decided to take a little look around, and all the books were about school records again.  
  
“Ahh… Another one like this… Can’t they put all the books in the same area?” She groaned and started to walk out of the room, but she slipped and fell. Her fall awakened all the dust who flew in the room. It was almost impossible to breathe with all the moving dust, and Akko had some troubles to breath as she tried to walk out of the room as fast as possible. When she was out, she was panting heavily to catch her breath with fresh air.  
  
“I thought I would die…”  
  
Some students walked next to her, and they all looked at Akko with eyes opened wide before they walked away faster than before. Akko raised an eyebrow a little when it happened more than once, and she looked at herself. When she looked, she knew why everyone was looking at her with a dubious gaze. She was covered with dust, and covered was a weak word. Her hair was greyer, and her uniform was really dirty. She gasped a little at the view, and quickly flailed to remove the dust on her, but she couldn’t remove everything, the dust was soaking the uniform. She didn’t know what do to about this. She could take a shower, or ask Diana to clean her with a spell she didn’t know… or maybe… Yes she could ask Chariot! And she could also ask the woman for help with the room!   
  
With a broad smile slowly appearing on her face, Akko started to walk toward the teacher’s room. She knew perfectly how to go there even with her eyes closed. She went there so many times last year after all. When she arrived in front of the door, she didn’t hesitate at all and knocked at the door. It didn’t take so long for Chariot to open the door.  
  
“Hell- Akko?!” She was ready to greet the girl who knocked at her door, but when she saw it was Akko covered in dust, she opened her eyes wider, and then sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, a bit depressed at the view. “What are you doing…”  
  
Akko giggled a little awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head while looking away.  
  
“Well… I just fell in a room full of dust? Hehe…”  
  
Chariot sighed again, and opened her door wider to let the girl enter the room.  
  
“Come in, I’ll clean you…”  
  
Akko stared at Chariot with her eyes almost sparkling and she entered the room hopping. Chariot closed the door and took her wand to cast a quick spell, removing all the dust on Akko and throwing it out of the window. She then sat at her usual desk, crossing one leg above the other, as well as crossing her arms.  
  
“So, why are you here? I hope you didn’t just come to be cleaned?”   
  
Akko looked at herself a little, but she smiled when she saw that all the dust was cleaned. When the first thing she came was done, she didn’t hesitate to ask about the other thing.  
  
“I’m looking for a room I can use without being bothered!”  
  
Chariot raised an eyebrow a little, not knowing why the girl suddenly wanted a room for herself.  
  
“What for?”  
  
“Well…” Akko was starting to lose her words, she didn’t expect to be asked the reasons, and she tried to think about something she could say to the red-haired woman. “To study! Yes to study, Sucy is always playing with her potions so I can’t study well in the bedroom, and the library is closed after dinner!” She exclaimed, trying to sound as convincing as possible.  
  
Chariot though noticed it was a lie. Akko being suddenly so excited about study wasn’t normal after all. So she sighed again, and this time she also frowned.   
  
“Tell me the truth this time Akko.”  
  
“Urgh” Akko made a little face when Chariot saw through her lie and she tried to giggle a little. “Hehe… Okay it’s to…” She suddenly blushed a little, and Chariot smirked slightly.  
  
“Diana?” Chariot said to tease Akko, which was successful since the brunette jumped a little.   
  
“What about her?” The girl answered, trying not to play with Chariot.  
  
“So Akko wants a room to be with Diana hmm…” The woman said while smirking, trying to poke around the brunette’s mind.  
  
“Wha- how did you know?!” Akko answered, but instead of an answer, Chariot burst out laughing. It made the girl raise an eyebrow.  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“Nothing nothing” Chariot answered, trying to stop laughing. “You girls are so obvious honestly. So you want a room… Hmm, I can only think about Croix’s previous lab. It was completely cleaned from all her weird stuff so it’s empty, but I’m sure nobody would bother you there… Does it help you?”  
  
Akko didn’t think about the first part of what Chariot said, not wanting to be bothered by the teacher as well, and smiled at the idea. It was at least a place, and she needed to tell Diana about it!  
  
“Thank you Chariot! I’ll go now then!”   
  
Akko left the room as soon as possible. She wanted to see Diana now, but she also wanted to run away from the teacher since she didn’t want to be bothered by the woman about her relationship.

* * *

 

“There’s really nothing I can find…” Diana said while huffing. After the lessons, she decided as well to walk around the school another time. She started with the classrooms as well, like Akko thought. But she also noticed they couldn’t be able to use them. It was too dangerous to use a classroom since a teacher could enter it and catch them together. Diana wanted to find a place where they could both be together without being afraid of people entering the room for whatever reason. She wanted something like a bedroom they could  share together… When she thought that, Diana opened her eyes wider from the wonderful idea she just thought about, and walked toward the dormitories. ‘Maybe there is some rooms that aren’t used by anyone…’  
  
Using a bedroom in the dorm would be the perfect thing. After all, it was close to their own rooms so they could go there and exit the place easily. And of course they would be together without being worried about a teacher bursting inside. Nobody was wandering around the dormitories too much, only checking in the hallways if people weren’t in their room. And they could decorate the room however they wanted. Diana thought it was the perfect idea, but she still needed to find an empty one… It wasn’t something easy to do.  
  
As she walked toward the dorm, she thought it would be easier to actually find a map of the place with the names of the people written. Like this, she would be able to find the room she want easily enough. So she headed back toward the school part of the building to talk with the headmistress. Being the top student of the school was offering some advantages. For instance, being able to ask whatever she wanted to the teachers. Finnelan seemed to be the best to ask stuff as she was almost admiring the blonde girl. And she was often in the headmistress’s office as well. So when she knocked at the door of the room and entered, Diana wasn’t surprised to see the teacher with the headmistress.   
  
“Yes Diana? How may I help you?” The headmistress asked, staring at Diana quizzically.  
  
“Miss Holbrooke, I’d like to have a map of…” She stopped talking without finishing her sentence. She was currently thinking. Wouldn’t it be better to ask directly for a room in the dormitories instead of asking for the map and looking by herself? She cleared her throat when she noticed the two women in front of her raised their eyebrows. “I’d like to have a free room in the dormitories. I’m usually working late and it’s a little hard to study while taking care not to bother my roommates or waking them up. So if possible, I’d like to have a little bedroom where I can work without being worried about that. Is that possible?”  
  
The two women stared at each other from surprise. They didn’t expect a request like that from Diana, but Finnelan seemed proud that her student was working this hard even though she was already talented. She couldn’t refuse something to Diana, especially if it involved the studies. So she accepted without talking to the headmistress first.  
  
“Of course Diana, if it can help you with your studies, it won’t be an issue. Right Miranda?”  
  
“Y-Yes of course…” The headmistress seemed less enthusiast than Finnelan, but it was true that they couldn’t say no to Diana, not after everything she did for them. “Then Anne, can you lead Diana to a free room? You know the area more than I do hahaha…”  
  
“Of course, follow me Diana.”  
  
Diana bowed at the headmistress and left the room to follow the other teacher. Without talking too much, they walked toward the dormitories. Finnelan only talked about how wonderful Diana was, and Diana replied quickly, while still trying to make the teacher happy. The blonde girl wasn’t really comfortable with the woman always praising her, she felt as if she was about to suffocate. Fortunately, they quickly arrived at the destination. Finnelan stopped in front of a room not so far from where hers was. The woman unlocked the room and opened the door, entering first with the blonde girl following her.  
  
The room was a bit smaller than Diana’s bedroom, but it was a larger than Akko’s. It would be perfect to have some time together. It also already had some furnitures: two beds, two desks, a bookshelf, and even a table with two chairs. It was really cozy. They just needed to clean the place but it would be easy to do.  
  
“So, what do you think Diana?”  
  
Diana smiled at the teacher and nodded a little to thank her. “Thank you, it’s perfect. I can clean it myself. It’s far enough for me to study in a place like this.”  
  
“Good. I’m glad you like it. It’s the second biggest room, I can’t give a smaller room to someone like you after all, you’re Luna Nova’s pride.”  
  
“Thank you…” Diana tried to stay composed, but she didn’t really like what the woman said about the pride of the school. She just wanted to have a normal life after all. She could only have one when she was alone with Akko… She started to think about hugging the brunette and kissing her, but she snapped herself out of her musings when Finnelan handed her a key.  
  
“This is the key of the room. Don’t hesitate to reproduce it if you need another one or anything.” She said and walked back toward the door. “I will leave now. Have a nice day Diana.”  
  
“Thank you Miss Finnelan.”  
  
The teacher left the room, leaving Diana behind, and she stopped holding her grin. It was the best place she could find, and she was sure to win against Akko now. She walked out of the room and locked the door before she tried to find Akko in the school to tell her this as soon as possible.

* * *

 

Akko was looking at the room she found. It was really mournful honestly. The light wasn’t really strong, it was empty, and she couldn’t help but think about everything that happened with Croix. Even though the teacher regretted what she did, it still happened and it wasn’t the best moment in her life… She sighed deeply and just turned around to search for Diana.  
  
“Akko?”  
  
The brunette jumped a little when she saw Diana entering the room as well. ‘Did she hear me thinking?! Wow…’ She was so surprised to find the blonde girl here since she was about to look for her in the school building.  
  
“Diana? How did you know I was here?”  
  
Diana smiled and walked closer to Akko while giggling. She was just looking around the school, but she met Amanda who told her she saw Akko coming inside the tower. She didn’t like to talk with Amanda that much, but it was still a good opportunity she saw her.  
  
“Amanda just told me she saw you entering here. You didn’t want to see me?” She said while smiling. Akko blushed a little in front of this smile, but after some seconds she sighed.  
  
“Of course I want to see you. Well, welcome to the place I found but… I don’t think it can work”  
  
Diana finally looked around the room. It wasn’t that bad, but she still thought her room was better, after all it was closer to their rooms, and… more comfortable than this place.  
  
“Well, you found a room, that’s still good I think. I also found one, want to see it? I’m sure you will love it.”  
  
Akko shyly nodded, and she walked out of the room with her girlfriend. She was actually relieved Diana found another room, the one she found wasn’t the best one and she didn’t know if she could relax there even with her girlfriend.  
  
“Where is the room?”  
  
“In the dormitories. It’s near our bedrooms so we can go there easily.”  
  
“Ooooh! Sounds nice!”   
  
The brunette started to be a little excited to see the room. Knowing Diana, the room must be wonderful and beautiful. She snorted a little, trying not to make any noises and worry or surprise her girlfriend.  
  
After walking some minutes, they finally arrived in front of the room’s door. Diana picked the key from her pocket and unlocked the door. She opened it, but let Akko enter first. The brunette did and when she was inside, she grinned and looked around. She was amazed by the beauty of the place. It was far more beautiful and comfortable than the place she found. It has more dust, but it could be cleaned easily so it wasn’t an issue.  
  
“Wow… You completely beat me Diana… Again…” She said, still amazed and looking around. Diana meanwhile closed the door and walked toward Akko. She wrapped her arms around the brunette from behind, and pulled her into a hug, which made the girl blush heavily.   
  
“W-What’s wrong Diana?” Akko asked, a bit surprised and embarrassed.  
  
“Nothing… I just missed you…” Diana answered with a whispering voice. She was resting her head on the girl’s shoulder with her eyes closed, and Akko just enjoyed this moment, gently caressing the arms around her belly.  
  
“Let’s clean this after dinner… And I will also ask you to do something since you lost~”  
  
“Oh… Yes let’s do this…” The brunette blushed a little as she thought about the second part of what Diana said. She hoped it wouldn’t be something too embarrassing. She quickly stopped thinking about it and just stayed in this position with her girlfriend, still looking around the room that was going to be their little private place.  
  
After some private time like this, they went to the cafeteria to eat dinner with everyone. Amanda teased them and Hannah a little about their relationships, and everyone chatted like usual. The dinner ended, and the two girls went back into the room to clean it. Well, Diana cleaned it, because Akko didn’t know a lot of good spell to clean. She fixed the broken furnitures though. Diana transformed some of the old furnitures into more recent ones, and she used some magic to combine the two beds together and make a big one. In less than an hour, they were done with the cleaning. The room was really cosy, and it was even more comfortable than Akko’s. The brunette sat on a chair around the table, and Diana sat in front of her. Akko put a vase with red roses inside to make the place a little brighter. She moved her hand to grab Diana’s hand and hold it in hers while gazing into the ice-blue eyes.  
  
“I love you Diana…” She said, diving into the woman’s eyes in front of her while grinning and blushing.  
  
“I love you too…” She answered and did the same.   
  
They both stayed like this for a moment, enjoying the romantic mood between them, before Diana broke it by clearing her throat.  
  
“Here’s the key of the room. And I think it’s time for me to ask something then Akko.” She stated while grinning.  
  
“Oh… Well yes it is…” The brunette answered while taking the key, sighing a little and blushing slightly. She was ready for something really embarrassing to come. But actually, she was surprised by what the blonde girl asked.  
  
“Let’s have a date tomorrow after school then, here…” She said, still staring at Akko in the eyes, and the brunette flushed. A date with Diana. It was going to be her first date with her girlfriend since they started dating. She didn’t know how to handle this question, and she almost lost her voice.  
  
“Err- it’s… well… I mean…” She breathed heavily to stay calm. “Y-Yes…”  
  
They both smiled at each other after this. But inside, they were both tensed a little at the idea of a date. So tensed that they didn’t talk a lot, only enjoying each other’s presence while trying to think about stuff like how to dress after the lessons, what to do, and all.   
  
Her first date was coming tomorrow already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay~ like I said in the last chapter, this one was mostly to set the new one, showing some rivalry again between the two girls~ And the next one will be a really really cute one I think, at least I will try to make it really cute! Thank you as usual for the support! I read all your comments even if I don't always reply ><


	9. First date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the start of the break, and the first date for the couple. With a lot of surprises

Finally! It was finally the start of the break! The last lesson just finished, and Akko tried not to shout too loud as she exclaimed her happiness as soon as the teacher walked out of the classroom. She was relieved she wouldn’t have to work too much for two weeks. But she was looking forward for her date with Diana even more. She couldn’t even sleep well last night, thinking about too many things and being really tensed. Hopefully, she was able to concentrate during the test she had, and since she studied with Diana, she was able to answer a lot of questions.  
  
Everyone started to walk toward the brunette to chat a little together, it was the start of the break and some of them had already planned things to do, like Dianna and Akko.  
  
“So, have you planned something during the break Akko?” Lotte asked. The brunette knew that the girl was going back to her parents’ home to see them. It seemed that Sucy was also going with her.  
  
“Well, maybe I have something yes…” She answered, but she tried not to say more, slightly blushing while rubbing the back of her neck. She knew people would tease her if she said anything about this. Unfortunately…  
  
“Aren’t you going to Diana’s house again?” Hannah said, not knowing that Akko didn’t say it on purpose. And when she talked, everyone except her and Barbara raised their eyebrows in surprise.  
  
“You’re going with Diana?”  
  
“Already a honeymoon~ it was fast!” Amanda said while smirking, but she only earned a weak punch in the belly from Akko before the girl answered.  
  
“Yes I’m going with Diana, and no it’s not a honeymoon!” She exclaimed, pouting and blushing.  
  
“I proposed her to go with me since she couldn’t see her parents.” Diana finally answered when she arrived in the group.  
  
“Y-Yes that’s it! And you Hannah, what are you doing?” Akko tried to change the topic of the conversation, and it succeeded when Hannah answered her.  
  
“Well, Barb and I are visiting Paris during the first week. Since Diana wasn’t here we thought we should do something at the same time…”  
  
“Another honeymoon in the group~” Amanda teased again, and she earned a cold glare from the auburn-haired girl.  
  
“And you Amanda then? It seems like you’re not doing a honeymoon~?” The girl teased back while smirking. She wasn’t the kind of girl not to give back the teasing. But Amanda didn’t seem to be affected as she chuckled a little.  
  
“Well, we’re staying here. We planned to go with Jasminka, but it seemed that we couldn’t afford the plane… So my honeymoon is here~” She grinned and kept chuckling, which made Hannah frowning a little more.  
  
“Hannah, we should go now if we don’t want to miss the plane.” Barbara said with a calm tone. She was watching her girlfriend fighting with Amanda the whole time, but she started to be tensed with the time passing.  
  
“Oh you’re right! Well see you next week girls!” Hannah said and she walked out of the room with Barbara. They both smiled at everyone a last time and they disappeared in the hallway.  
  
“Well, I suppose we will go as well” Lotte said. Sucy didn’t talk at all, like usual. But she followed the girl out of the room, and the green team followed.  
  
“Let’s go then, we will help you Jasminka to pack your stuff.”  
  
“Thank you Amanda.” The girl answered, and they all left Diana and Akko behind. They were the only girls remaining in the classroom, and they smiled at each other when they noticed it.  
  
“Let’s prepare each other for the next thing.” Diana said while smiling. She wanted to start her date now, but she also wanted to dress a little better than her uniform. During the break, they still had to wear their uniform in the school part. But outside and in the dormitories, they were free to wear whatever they wanted. So the two girls planned to wear something better for their date, not needing to go to the school part.  
  
“Y-Yes…”  
  
The two girls went back toward the dormitories as well. Akko entered her bedroom where Sucy and Lotte were preparing themselves to leave. The brunette didn’t say anything and started to look at the few outfits she still had in this room. Actually… It was only her school uniform, the ceremony school uniform and a basic outfit composed of Denim shorts and a black tee-shirt. At least she looked good inside so she decided to wear this.  
  
“What are you doing Akko?” Lotte asked while she was still packing.  
  
“Well…” Akko rubbed the back of her neck and looked away shyly. “I have a date with Diana but… Is it good enough?”  
  
Lotte stopped moving for a moment. “You have a… well… nevermind…” She gave a little once-over to Akko as she resumed packing and she smiled after that. “It looks good yes.”  
  
“Diana will love it whatever you wear honestly.” Sucy said, not even looking at Akko. She seemed to take a lot of useless things for her trip, but the girl didn’t say anything and just left the room after she said goodbye to her friends.  
  
Her heart was beating faster. She started to be really tensed just thinking about what Diana would think about her outfit. Was it good enough? She didn’t look really elegant… but at least she wasn’t ugly? She wasn’t really confident about her clothes. With her hands a little moist, she opened the door of the room and entered it. Inside, Diana was waiting for her. She was wearing jeans and a white blouse. She was really beautiful and it showed off her good style, even more beautiful than a model for Akko. She stopped moving for a moment, just gazing at her girlfriend the whole time after she closed the door. The girl in front of her was as beautiful as a Goddess honestly. Even more. She looked so beautiful, and so cool at the same time that Akko lost her voice and her mind for a moment. She was snapped out of her thoughts with Diana poking her sides. It made her jump a little from the surprise since she was ticklish.  
  
“H-Hey!”  
  
“Welcome back Akko~” Diana said while giggling. She noticed that Akko was locked in her thoughts when she entered so she teased her girlfriend a little to wake her up. Though she was also staring at her girlfriend the whole time as well, she just snapped out of her musings before the brunette.  
  
“You are beautiful Akko…” Diana said while wrapping her arms around the girl’s waist. She was blushing a little, it was really embarrassing to say those sorts of things… But she didn’t regret. She really found Akko wonderful. The outfit suited her perfectly. It was really casual, but it was the best for Akko.  
  
Nobody talked for a moment, they both stayed into a warm hug without moving. But it was mostly because they were too embarrassed to talk. But when she couldn’t handle the silence any more, Diana broke it.  
  
“Well… I was thinking… Maybe we could go to visit the town a little before dinner? Just… The two of us…?” She asked, not looking into Akko’s eyes since she was still blushing heavily and hugging the girl.  
  
“O-Oh… Okay, I’d like to Diana…” Akko answered, but she was still hiding her blushing cheeks in the hug. Yet, they had to pull away after a moment since they couldn’t go to town while hugging. Diana had her broom with her and she took it from the corner of the room.  
  
“Then, I’ll let you ride my broom. It would be faster like this.”  
  
“Y-Yeah…” Akko scratched her cheek, feeling a little embarrassed as she still wasn’t able to fly properly, but at least she could fly so she was really happy and kept training every day.  
  
The two girls went outside the building and Diana flew with Akko hugging her from behind. They quickly arrived to the town. It was a little late to come to town after the lessons, but they still had around one and a half hour to do something before dinner.  
  
“Hmm… do you want to do something Akko?” Diana asked when they arrived. She didn’t plan to do something specific, just hanging around with her girlfriend. But Akko smiled and nodded when she was asked that.  
  
“Well, maybe we can do some shopping! I don’t have the money to buy plane tickets, but I still have enough to do some shopping!”  
  
Diana giggled when Akko tried to convince her, but she didn’t need to be convinced and just agreed to do some shopping. Even if she didn’t buy something, she could still spend some time with Akko.  


 

Akko and Diana were walking around the town side by side. They didn’t hold hand though, too shy to do this with all the people around. The town wasn’t really big, they could have gone to another town but they didn’t have the time to do this today. Maybe another day… While they walked, Akko suddenly stopped moving to stare at a shop. It seemed to be an accessory shop.  
  
“Let’s go there!”  
  
“Are you sure? It doesn’t sell clothes” Diana said, thinking her girlfriend wanted to buy clothes, but Akko shook her head before grinning and pulling Diana by the hand.  
  
“Yes I’m sure! Let’s go inside!”  
  
Diana suddenly flushed when she had her hand held by the brunette. They may seem to be like friends for others, but it was still really embarrassing. Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of people around the shop to stare at them, but Diana still softly pulled her hand away from Akko when they were inside.  
  
“So… Do you think about something you could find here Akko? You suddenly pulled me in so I suppose you do?” Diana asked, still blushing a little from what happened.  
  
Akko pondered a little at the question, not really noticing that she made her girlfriend blushing. She actually had an idea, but she wanted it to be a surprise.  
  
“Well, maybe? I don’t really know, I felt like it was a good idea to come in this shop.”  
  
The blonde girl sighed a little, but didn’t complain and just walked inside by Akko’s sides.  
  
“Let’s look around then.”  
  
Akko was really concentrated on everything in the shop. The bracelets, the necklaces, the rings, everything was really beautiful. She couldn’t choose something right now because everything was perfect. And also because she couldn’t really buy the present she wanted to give to Diana in front of her. Meanwhile, the blonde girl wasn’t looking as intensely as her girlfriend, but she glanced around from time to time. Her gaze was mostly focused on her girlfriend. The smile that she was showing was really precious. The sparkling crimson-red eyes looking everywhere was really beautiful to see, and Diana was diving in those eyes with hers. Although she looked away shyly when Akko stared back at her. They stayed inside the shop for a long time, it was a really big one. And Akko finally noticed something she really needed to offer to Diana. It was a necklace, and it had a gemstone linked to it that looked like a diamond. The necklace was expensive, but not expensive enough to think it was really a diamond. However, it has the same colour as Diana’s eyes. She could almost stare at it for eternity. With that, she found another one with a red gemstone this time. It was matching the colour of her eyes, at least she hoped it was. She was decided to buy those two together and give the red to Diana. Like this, she could think about her girlfriend all the time by looking at the blue stone, and she hoped Diana would feel the same with the red one.  
  
When she knew what she wanted to buy, Akko decided to walk away from the shop. She didn’t want Diana to notice anything. She was planning to go back there later to buy them alone. At least she hoped she could be alone.  
  
“Nothing caught your eyes Akko?” Diana asked when they walked out, a little surprised that Akko didn’t buy anything since she seemed so happy staring at everything.  
  
“Well, not really no… But it’s okay! Hmm, do you want to find another shop?” She asked, tilting her head a little while she was staring at a cafe next to the shop they were. Diana was about to answer positively, but she noticed that Akko was staring at a cafe and smiled warmly at her girlfriend.  
  
“Let’s go there instead, you seem thirty~” She said while giggling, and then they both walked toward the entrance of the place. Actually, Akko didn’t mind the place they would go, she just wanted to stay somewhere near the shop to go back there as soon as possible. And it would actually be sooner than she planned… When they entered the place, Akko tried to look like she was panicking and searched her pocket.  
  
“Oh… I think I lost my wallet in the shop… T-Take a seat! I won’t take long Diana!”  
  
Diana frowned slightly, she noticed something was wrong with how Akko behaved, and she was about to point it out, but Akko suddenly ran out of the cafe, leaving Diana alone, sighing heavily.  
  
“Can I help you miss?”  
  
“Yes… A table for two please.” She answered, trying to keep her calm in front of someone else, but she was a little annoyed that Akko ran away like this…  
  
Akko meanwhile, rushed into the shop and took the two necklaces she noticed before to pay them. She could barely afford them, but she thought it was worth! She was looking forward to seeing Diana’s smile when she would give it to her, and she couldn’t help but smile a little at the thought… She slowly walked back to the cafe, holding her wallet in her hand so as to show Diana that she retrieved it. But Diana seemed angry when Akko sat in front of her.  
  
“So Akko, did you find your wallet?” She asked with a little cold tone, and Akko could only chuckle at this. ‘Diana noticed I lied… fuck’ She tried to smile, but it was hard in front of an angry Diana.  
  
“Y-Yes I did, of course I did look, it’s in my hand… haha…” She rubbed the back of her neck with her other hand, but Diana kept frowning at her and the brunette more or less gave up. “… Do you trust me Diana?”  
  
“Hm? Of course I do Akko.” The blonde girl answered, raising an eyebrow at the sudden question. She didn’t know what the brunette was thinking at all, and it was a little troubling.  
  
“Well, just, trust me for what just happened okay? I promise I will tell you later.” Akko was really serious, and she looked back into Diana’s eyes, making her a little uncomfortable as she felt guilty after being angry toward her girlfriend. She finally sighed before smiling again.  
  
“Okay… So, what are you going to order? I think I’ll drink a tea…” She said, pondering a little as she was looking through the menu. And Akko took the menu as well, but she thought about buying the same.  
  
“I think a tea is fine for me too… With some sugars and a lot of milk though…” She almost trembled just by thinking about the bitter taste. And it made Diana chuckle.  
  
“That’s pretty childish, it’s so like you Akko”  
  
“Well, sorry for being childish! It doesn’t matter, does it?!” She said while crossing her arms and pouting. Someone arrived soon after to take their orders, and they told the waiter about what they wanted. He quickly came back with the two drinks, and left the couple alone.  
  
“It’s so good to have some time together like this…” Diana said first, broking the silence after she sipped her tea. And Akko answered after she did the same.  
  
“Yes… Who could have guessed we would be alone like this when we first met.” She answered, chuckling a little, and Diana did as well after the comment. She didn’t really like Akko at first, she thought the girl was thinking magic was like a toy but… She was really impressed by how determined, and how talented the girl could be sometime. And she also knew it wasn’t her fault she was bad with magic, with everything that happened with Chariot when she was younger…  
  
“I suppose yes… But I don’t regret going out with you Akko.” She finally answered while smiling, which made Akko flush.  
  
“You know what? You’re the most beautiful flower~” Akko suddenly said while smirking. She was always teased by her girlfriend so she thought she could do it this time. And it seemed to work since the blond girl flushed even more than Akko did. The brunette was happy it worked. Yet, suddenly, her girlfriend moved her hand toward Atsuko’s face, and the girl froze for a moment. The blonde girl’s hand came nearer Akko’s face, until it touched just above her lips and rubbed a little. After that, Diana put her thumb that rubbed the girl’s face in her mouth and licked it slowly, making sure to tease the woman at the same time. And it was really effective, Atsuko flushed almost to the point to faint.  
  
“You had some cream~” She said, still smirking, and Akko pouted a little. Though she really didn’t know where to look at. It was a little awkward for some time, before they resumed talking to each other for a moment. When it was close to dinner time, they paid and went back toward the school on the broom, chatting a little together happily.

 

The two girls arrived a few minutes after they started to fly. Diana stopped them in the courtyard where they left earlier, and she smiled at Akko. She actually had a little idea for their dinner and she wanted to try it.  
  
“Can you wait for me in the room Akko? I need to do something quick before.”  
  
Akko raised an eyebrow from surprise, but she nodded slowly. “Y-Yeah… Of course I can, as long as you don’t forget me there~” she said while chuckling, enjoying joking a little with her girlfriend. And Diana chuckled back.  
  
“Of course I won’t forget you, I’ll be back soon.”  
  
“Then see you very soon!” Akko said before she left. She was curious about what Diana needed to do, but she trusted her. The blonde girl trusted her when it was about the necklaces after all. Thinking about them, she quickly checked her bag to see if they were still inside, and they were. It made her smile warmly thinking about them again. She planned to offer them after the dinner.  
  
During her way back to the bedroom, she didn’t meet a lot of people. Most of the students left the school for the break. She quickly arrived to the room and unlocked the door with her key. She then sat on a chair  around the table and waited. She didn’t really have something to do. The room was cosy, but except the books in the bookshelf, it didn’t have a lot of things to entertain people. Maybe she could talk to Diana about this… Though they wouldn’t spend a lot of time here next week, so they could talk about it when they come back from Diana’s house.  
  
Akko was snapped out of her thoughts with the door opened by Diana. She was coming back with food…?  
  
“Wait how did you bring food here Diana?!”  
  
“It’s a secret~ I was hoping we could eat dinner… together.” She answered, smiling brightly while she closed the door behind her. The plates were floating behind her, and they suddenly moved to be set on the table, as well as glasses of water and silverware.  
  
“W-Wow… You really can’t tell me Diana?” Akko asked again as she looked at the food in front of her, her eyes still opened wide from the surprise. It was just the food from the cafeteria, but it seemed much better as it was served elsewhere than the cafeteria. Diana sat in front of her and smiled before she finally answered the girl.  
  
“I just asked the cook if it would be possible to take food with us because we were really busy packing for tomorrow and we wouldn’t be able to eat dinner… He was kind enough to accept, especially since most of the students aren’t here.”  
  
Akko giggled a little and looked back into Diana’s eyes. She was overjoyed she could share an intimate moment with Diana during dinner. It was her first time eating alone with the woman, without having people around them… And it seemed that Diana felt the same. She was smiling warmly, and rested her right hand on Akko’s left hand on the table, holding it kindly.  
  
“Let’s eat before it’s cold”  
  
“Y-Yes you’re right…” Akko answered, blushing as she felt embarrassed suddenly. Her heartbeat quickened slightly, and she tried to think about something other than Diana in front of her by eating. The taste wasn’t really different from usual, but with the atmosphere in the room, it felt different. It was quiet, but the two girls shared glances from time to time, and they also shared intimate words of affection, making the other one blush. Akko couldn’t feel happier than this moment, everything was so perfect she even pinched her leg to see if she wasn’t dreaming. And of course she wasn’t. She decided to talk about something else during the dinner though, being a little curious about something.  
  
“Say Diana… Your aunt will be here… right?”  
  
Diana swallowed the food she had in her mouth before answering, resting the silverware on the table.  
  
“Yes of course, but don’t worry, after what happened last time, she’s much gentler.” She answered as she tried to comfort her girlfriend. But Akko wasn’t worried about this actually.  
  
“Well, it’s just…” She looked away a little, fidgeting on her chair as she was tensed and embarrassed to say this… “We just won’t have a lot of time together… I mean, alone… Because we can’t really tell her about… our relationship…”  
  
Diana opened her eyes slightly wider at the worried Akko in front of her, and she sighed. She also felt sad to hide their relationship to everyone, but she knew it wouldn’t end well. She at least needed to wait until she could be the head of her family. Nothing would happen after that because she could deal with it, but for now she couldn’t do anything if her aunt suddenly started to disown her and prevent her from doing the ceremony. Yet, she still tried to smile at her girlfriend to comfort her.  
  
“It’s true that we can’t tell my aunt… At least not until I’m able to do the ceremony… But we will spend some time together, nobody enters my room without permission so we will be able to spend some time together… And your bedroom will be next to mine.”  
  
Akko smiled again after her girlfriend comforted her. She was a little too worried after all. She also wanted to tell everyone about her wonderful girlfriend but, she really couldn’t. She didn’t want to destroy her girlfriend’s future. She didn’t really care about herself, but Diana was everything for her, and she really didn’t want to make her girlfriend suffer because of her relationship, or her stubbornness.  
  
“I see~ Well as long as I can be with you, I don’t mind if we have to stay hidden… I love you.” She said before she resumed eating, and Diana answered her before she did the same.  
  
“I love you too.”

 

The two girls finished their dinner soon after their little chat. They stayed sitting for a moment, staring at each other while they held each other’s hand. Akko was actually thinking when she could give her present to her girlfriend. She really wanted to surprise her since it would be her first gift. She was pondering a little and frowning. As she was making those faces, Diana started to be a little concerned about her girlfriend.  
  
“What’s wrong Akko?”  
  
“O-Oh n-nothing!” She answered, snapped out of her musings. She was sweating a little and chuckled awkwardly, not knowing what to do at all.  
  
“Well… it doesn’t seem like it’s nothing… but for now I’ll move those plates back to the cafeteria. Can you wait for me here?” She asked, already standing up and moving her wand to make all the plates flying.  
  
“Y-Yes, I will wait for you…” Akko said and stood up as well, stretching a little and looking around the room awkwardly. But when Diana left the room, she suddenly smirked and rushed toward her bag to take the two necklaces. It was finally the time to give it to her girlfriend! She hid hers on her chair, and Diana’s behind her back. She was ready to give it to the blonde girl as soon as she came back. And it didn’t take that long for the woman to come back from the cafeteria. When she arrived, Akko jumped in front of her, surprising her girlfriend.  
  
“Diana, it’s about earlier at the cafe. If you still trust me about it, close your eyes.” She said, looking deep into the blonde’s eyes with a really serious face. She was serious about this. She wanted it to be perfect. Diana was a little taken aback, and didn’t really know what to do at first, it was too fast. But after she thought a little, she sighed a bit and smiled.  
  
“Ok, I still trust you.” She said and finally closed her eyes, waiting for something to happen. She could hear Akko moving in the room and behind her, and even though she trusted her girlfriend, she was a little tensed. However, she still didn’t move. She could then feel something around her neck, it was light, but she still felt it. And then, Akko moved again and finally talked. She was grinning and the first thing that Diana noticed when she opened her eyes was the collar around the brunette’s neck. She knew this collar, it was one she noticed in the shop, and one she really loved actually, with another one…  
  
“Hehe, you should look at yourself more Diana” Akko said when she noticed the blonde girl was mostly staring at her. And Diana looked at herself, before she finally noticed she was also wearing a collar. So it was what she felt just before… And the collar… It was the other one she noticed in the shop. It was red crimson like Akko’s eyes. She really loved it so much. She didn’t know Akko really bought them… They matched each other, it was really wonderful… She couldn’t help but pull her girlfriend in her arms with how happy she was.  
  
“Akko… that’s perfect… Thank you…”  
  
“Hehe… You’re welcome Diana, I’m glad you like it… I will be with you everywhere now…” Akko said, closing her eyes a little as she hugged back her girlfriend. It was really the most wonderful feeling, being in Diana’s arms like this. She felt calm, and loved… The flower perfume was still as wonderful as usual, as well as her girlfriend’s warmth. And Diana felt the same, she closed her eyes, and pulled Akko even closer into the hug. But after only some seconds, she moved one hand to raise Akko’s head, and moved her lips until they were pressed against Atsuko’s. She shared another passionate kiss. Diana was leading more than usual. She pressed her lips a little more and tasted them lovingly, slowly licking the woman’s lips and trapping the bottom one between hers. It was something she’d never done before, and it made the brunette flush hard and almost letting out a small moan, but Akko didn’t move away and even did it back. She finally let her moan out when she opened her mouth slightly, and felt Diana’s tongue slowly coming inside, poking a little at first to check if it was good, and when Akko touched back, they started to kiss deeply, intertwining their tongue. Akko wrapped her arms around Diana’s neck, and Diana cupped the girl’s cheek with one hand while her other hand was still wrapped around the girl’s waist. The smaller girl moaned again against her girlfriend’s lips. It was such a deep kiss, she was slowly melting into her girlfriend’s arms and mouth. Diana finally pulled away after some more seconds, and they both panted heavily while opening her eyes again to stare into each other’s eyes. Akko was the first to break the kiss, smirking slightly.  
  
“You said I was a good kisser but… You’re wonderful as well Miss Cavendish~” She said and chuckled a little. Diana smiled back at her and gave a little peck on the girl’s lips before answering.  
  
“Well, I have my secret source…” Actually, she asked some reference books from Barbara to help her. It was her first relationship, and she didn’t know anything about this before. So she was determined to know more about what she could do with her girlfriend… Without making her feel bad… She still wasn’t really sure about everything, so that’s why she went slowly.  
  
Akko was about to answer something, but she yawned a little, moving her hand in front of her mouth to cover it. It made Diana giggle again as she was still holding the girl in her arms.  
  
“We should sleep, do you have your pyjamas with you?”  
  
Akko smiled and nodded. She prepared her bag last night with everything she needed to have to go to Diana’s place, and it was resting in one corner of the room. So she only came back to her bedroom today to dress up.  
  
“Yes I do… will you change first?”  
  
“You can do it, I’ll prepare the bed…”  
  
Akko smiled, and gave a kiss on Diana’s cheek before she took her bag and went into the bathroom. Diana flushed slightly at the sudden kiss, but she grinned back. The girl was really making her feel like she was in Heaven, her true self showing more and more around her girlfriend. She then took her wand and started to prepare the bed. She didn’t really do a lot of stuff yesterday. She had prepared some sheets, and with some magic, she prepared the bed with them. She finished just before Akko walked into the room again, wearing plain pink pyjamas, which surprised the blonde girl a little.  
  
“Oh, you’re not wearing pyjamas with Chariot on it~?” She teased and smirked, which made the brunette pout a little.  
  
“Of course not, your servants would tease me about it like you just did…”  
  
“Well, that’s true. But this one is really cute on you.” The blonde girl answered. She then walked into the bathroom to change this time, and came back with a pale green long nightdress. It really showed her wealth and Akko couldn’t help but chuckle a little.  
  
“Madam is well dressed even for sleeping~”  
  
“Oh shh, it’s good like this!” She answered, frowning a little, but she was also happy she could talk like this with Akko, she felt really herself.  
  
They both chuckled at the joke, and then they went into the bed. However… they didn’t plan this to be this embarrassing. Just lying next to each other was already making their heartbeat quickening madly. They weren’t even facing each other, but they couldn’t help but blush heavily.  
  
“It’s… A bit more embarrassing than I thought it would…” Akko said, chuckling awkwardly, and Diana only made a noise to show her agreement. They stayed like this looking away from each other for a long time, without saying another word… But Diana didn’t want to sleep like this, she wanted to be close to her girlfriend. It was really embarrassing, and even a little bold of her to do it, but she turned around and moved one arm around Akko’s belly to pull her, pressing the girl’s back against her chest.  
  
“L-Let’s sleep like this.” The blonde girl said, trying not to show her embarrassment too much, but she was really red, and she felt like her heart could explode. Akko was actually feeling the same, she really didn’t know what to do, but she nodded and closed her eyes. Her heart was beating fast, but the hand on her belly was really comfortable. She concentrated her mind on it, and she felt like she could sleep like this. Diana was really incredible… She was able to make her comfortable with just something simple like this…  
  
“Yes… Good night Diana…”  
  
“Good night Akko… I love you… I will be with you forever...”  
  
“I love you too… and I hope you will stay with me! Or you will regret it~”

"Sure~ now sleep..."  
  
And after some time, they both fell asleep in this embarrassing yet relaxing and comfortable position.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading this, and sorry for the late post >< I'm starting to be overloaded with work and I started another fanfic at the same time... But don't worry! I will still try to post a chapter at least once a week! I also know that I will write two more parts before ending this fic. I'm planning to stop after Akko's birthday, and later when I'm less busy, I will write a sequel to this one some years later! Thank you so much for still following me this far, I love you all <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for reading all the fic until the end!!! I decided to end it there after some months without being able to find the motivation to continue it, and I think it wouldn't be good for me to keep everyone waiting when I don't seem to find the motivation for this. I'm planning to write other Diakko fic one day, so I may write another fic following this one!! Maybe it's not the end of this story, but it's the end of this fic. I'm very sorry I stopped it like this, but I'm still very happy everyone followed me this far!! Thank you for all the support and all the comments, I love you all <33


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